• Becomes largest party in National Assembly with 123 seats, PPP tally rises to 73, JUI-F’s to 11
• In KP Assembly, all three parties clinch more reserved seats than general ones
• ECP finally publishes key election documents several days after expiry of deadline
ISLAMABAD: The PML-N has become the largest political party in the National Assembly, with the number of its MNAs surging by 16 to 123 following the distribution of reserved seats — denied to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — among three political parties.
The PML-N initially won a total of 75 general seats and was joined by nine independents. With the allocation of 19 reserved seats for women and four reserved seats for minorities, the number reached 107.
According to notifications issued a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided that the SIC was ineligible for the reserved seats, the PML-N has been allocated 15 out of the remaining 20 reserved seats for women and one out of the three remaining seats reserved for minorities, taking the PML-N’s tally to 123 seats.
Likewise, the number of seats won by the PPP has now gone up to 73 from 68. The party initially won 54 general seats and was allocated 12 seats reserved for minorities and two for women. After the allocation of four more seats reserved for women and one for minorities, the number of PPP lawmakers now comes to 73 — still fewer than the PTI-backed independents who had joined the SIC hoping to get reserved seats.
The MQM-Pakistan has 22 members in the National Assembly, while the number of JUI-F lawmakers has gone up to 11 from seven. PML-Q has five and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party has four MNAs.
PML-Zia, Balochistan Awami Party, Balochistan National Party (Mengal), National Party, and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party have one member each in the National Assembly. Moreover, of the 99 independents who had won the elections, nine did not join any party.
Moreover, the Feb 8 elections did not take place in one National Assembly constituency, while the result of one constituency has been withheld.
Out of the three remaining reserved seats for women in the National Assembly from Punjab, two have gone to PPP and one to PML-N. Samina Khalid Ghurki and Natasha Daultana of PPP, and Tamkeen Akhtar Niazi have been notified as winners.
KP Assembly
The most interesting distribution of reserved seats has been observed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, where PTI-backed independents had won 91 seats compared to just 19 seats secured by all other political parties combined.
However, the JUI-F, which could get only seven general seats to stay on top among these political parties, has been allocated 10 reserved seats for women.
Likewise, the PML-N, which won six general seats, has been given eight reserved seats. PPP, which bagged four general seats, has six reserved seats. ANP and PTI-P, which clinched one general seat each, have also been lucky to have their numbers double in the provincial assembly.
Meanwhile, the ECP on Tuesday uploaded key post-election documents — including Forms 45, 46, 48 and 49 — on its website after once again violating the law.
The release comes around a month after the general elections amid public outcry over the delay in placing key electoral documents on its website and vote rigging and result manipulation allegations.
Under the law, the Election Commission was supposed to release these documents within 14 days after the elections.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2024
