ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reserved its verdict on Wednesday regarding the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.
A five-member bench of the ECP, headed by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the plea of the SIC and six other petitions against the SIC plea.
Headed by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja, a five-member bench of the ECP heard the plea.
During the proceedings, Barrister Ali Zafar argued before the electoral body that PTI-backed independent candidates had joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after winning the elections. He said that it was their right to get reserved seats in the assembly.
Zafar pointed out that although PTI had submitted a list of reserved seats, the candidates contested elections as independents after losing the party symbol. He added that the request for reserved seats was forwarded after joining SIC.
However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Azam Nazir Tarar opposed the allocation of seats to SIC, stating that the party had not participated in the elections.
Tarar highlighted that SIC had announced its non-participation in the February 8 elections following the ECP’s letter regarding the code of conduct before the polls.
Referring to Section 104 of the Election Act, Tarar questioned the justification of allocating reserved seats to SIC when it had been rejected by the masses.
Similarly, JUI-F’s Kamran Murtaza also opposed the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council before the ECP. He argued that SIC had not submitted any list for reserved seats; therefore, the request could not be entertained. Farogh Naseem appeared on behalf of the MQM and opposed the allocation of the reserved seats to SIC.
