PESHAWAR, May 25: Twelve of the 14 independent members-elect of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have submitted affidavits to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding their joining of political parties.

Nine of them joined Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) increasing its strength in the House to 44.

ECP had fixed May 25 as the last day to submit affidavits by successful candidates for joining a political party. Thereafter, it will add the number of the candidates joining them to the total tally of the respective parties’ seats won in the May 11 elections for allotment of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the provincial assembly.

Provincial Election Commissioner Sono Khan Baloch told Dawn that after completion of the process of the independent candidates joining political parties, ECP was likely to allot reserved seats to political parties. He said the seats in question would be filled on the basis of proportional representation in accordance with the general seats possessed by a party.

The provincial election commissioner said political parties had already submitted priority lists of their candidates for seats reserved for women and non-Muslim in the provincial assembly as well as seats reserved for women in the National Assembly from the province.

Under the Constitution, if an independent MNA or MPA joins a political party within three days after issuance of the gazette notification of the returned candidates, his or her seat will be counted among general seats won by the said political party and will be counted for the purpose of filling reserved seats.

It also states 22 seats are reserved for women and three for non-Muslim in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, while and eight seats are reserved for women in the National Assembly from the province. There are 99 general seats in the provincial assembly.Of the 14 independent MPAs-elect, nine have formally joined PTI, while one joined Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Qaumi Watan Party of Aftab Ahmad Sherpao and Swabi-based Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan each.

Those who submitted affidavits of joining PTI include Amjid Khan Afridi, Malik Qasim Khan Khattak, Fareed Khan, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Haji Qalander Khan Lodhi, Abdul Haq Khan, Samiullah Alizai, Israrullah Khan Ghandapur and Shah Muhammad Khan, while Sardar Zahoor Ahmad joined PML-N, Gohar Nawaz Khan QWP and Abdul Munim Khan AJIP.

Now, the strength of political parties in the provincial assembly is as: PTI 44, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and PML-Nawaz 13 each, QWP eight, Jamaat-i-Islami seven, Awami National Party and AJIP four each, PPP three and Musharraf-led All Pakistan Muslim League one.

The two returned candidates left as independent are Imran Khan from PK-27, Mardan and Jawed Akbar Khan from PK-68, Dera Ismail Khan.

Keeping in view the number of general seats of political parties, it is expected that PTI will get 10 of the 22 reserved seats for women in the provincial assembly, JUI-F and PML-N three each, QWP and JI two seats each and ANP and AJIP one each.

Of the three seats reserved for non-Muslims, there is likelihood of PTI, JUI-F and PML-N getting one each.

Of the total 35 National Assembly general seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PTI has won 17, JUI-F six, PML-N four, JI three, and ANP, QWP, AJIP and APML one each. One independent candidate also won the elections.

Keeping in view the number of seats won by political parties, PTI is expected to get four of the eight seats reserved for women in the National Assembly, JUI-F two and PML-N and JI one each.