With the Punjab Assem­bly session likely to be called in a couple of days, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — the new home for successful PTI-backed independent candidates — may not get reserved seats for women and minorities, leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in the house.

However, the outgoing speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Sibtain Khan, has warned the government to refrain from calling the provincial assembly session without allocating reserved seats to the SIC.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan is likely to notify allocation of reserved seats in the PA on Wednesday (today),” an official source privy to the development told Dawn on Tuesday.

The source insisted that the Sunni Ittehad Council was unlikely to get its share amid legal questions, recalling that the SIC’s head himself had not contested on his own party ticket. Besides, the deadline to submit a list of candidates for reserved seats has passed.

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