ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday declared 39 lawmakers – who contested the February 8 elections as independent candidates and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) – as members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in line with the verdict of the Supreme Court of July 12 in the matter of reserved seats.
The ECP has uploaded a notice on its website to declare 39 NA legislators as members of the former ruling party who have shown their PTI affiliation in their nomination papers for the February 8 state polls.
The decision was taken at a key meeting held today under Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Chairman Sikandar Sultan Raja, where they came to the conclusion of uploading the affiliation notification of 39 legislators to the Imran-based party.
The PTI MNAs who were briefed by the ECP today were those who had shown their party affiliation to the party founded by Imran in their nomination papers ahead of the 2024 general elections.
After being stripped of their election symbol, the PTI candidates contested the February 8 elections as independents. However, these independents were ordered by the party to join the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to be eligible for reserved seats.
After winning the most seats in the general polls earlier this year, the PTI was denied reserved seats by the ECP, with its decision also upheld by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), citing the party’s inability to submit a list of candidates for reserved seats within the stipulated time time.
On July 12, the Supreme Court ruled that the PTI was and is a political party that won general seats in the national and provincial assemblies in the February 8 elections and was therefore entitled to reserved seats.
A full SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa by a majority of 8 set aside the March 25 judgment of the Peshawar High Court and declared the March 1 order of the ECP ultra vires the Constitution, without statutory authority and without legal effect.
Following the directives of the ÚS, the electoral body met several times to discuss the verdict.
On the issue of independent candidates, the ECP said in a meeting last week that 39 candidates of the embattled party have shown their PTI affiliation in their nomination papers.
However, the 41 candidates who were declared as independents did not mention PTI in their nomination papers, did not reveal their party affiliation or submit any party’s ticket, he added.
Later, these MNAs voluntarily joined the Sunni Etihad Council (SIC) within three days as required by law after winning the elections,” the statement said.
The party appealed the decision of the Election Commission and PHC to the Supreme Court, but it was dismissed.
It is noteworthy to mention here that the ruling parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the reserved seats verdict, which came as a surprise legal victory for the main opposition party.
ECP notifies 39 MNAs as PTI members in line with SC order
