The National Assembly secretariat released a party position on Friday that purportedly showed the parliamentarians from PTI as Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members, dealing a blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its prospects of remaining in the legislature.
The development occurs one day after National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq wrote to the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP) stating that the July 12 Supreme Court ruling, which had ruled that the PTI was qualified for reserved seats, was “incapable of implementation” un light of the Election Act 2017 modifications.
After a verdict by the top court that informed 93 legislators that they were members of the PTI, the erstwhile ruling party was reinstated in the lower chamber of parliament.
Concurrently, the ECP has recognized 39 NA parliamentarians as PTI members who had indicated their PTI membership in their nomination papers.
The Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 and the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024, however, were trampled by the governing coalition on August 6 in the NA and the Senate, respectively, and on August 9 President Asif Ali Zardari signed the legislation into law.
The Election Commission should take into consideration the revisions to Section 104-A and Section 66, according to Sadiq, who emphasized these two “particular provisions” in his letter to the ECP.
The bill amends Section 66 of the Elections Act by stating that a candidate will be “deemed to be regarded as an independent candidate rather than a candidate of any political party” if they do not provide the returning officer (RO) with a declaration of their affiliation with a political party prior to requesting the election symbol.
