• SIC chief says he will continue to be part of PTI core committee, ‘political needs’ may necessitate separate platform
• Raoof claims 32 of 41 MNAs have submitted affidavits to PTI

THE Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) will remain in the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly with two seats each after the Supreme Court’s verdict on reserved seats allowed Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to return to parliament and provincial assemblies.

The merger of the PTI and SIC has been ruled out by the latter in anticipation of “political requirements” in the future.

SIC Chairman MNA Sahibzada Hamid Raza and MNA Faisal Amin Gandapur will remain in the SIC. They both won the election with the backing of the PTI.

“In consultation with the top PTI leadership, it has been decided that the SIC will continue representing itself as the SIC in the NA and the KP Assembly,” Mr Raza told Dawn on Sunday.

Talking about “extreme pressure” he had been facing from the powers that be since allowing the PTI-backed winning candidates to join the SIC, Mr Raza said: “Even after the Supreme Court’s decision he was conveyed to keep the 41 MNAs’ seats. But from day one I have made it clear that these seats are of Imran Khan’s and should go to the PTI.”

In a majority verdict on Friday, the SC declared the PTI eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in national and provincial assemblies.

The majority judgement explained that 39 out of the 80 SIC MNAs, shown by the ECP as PTI candidates, belong to the party. The remaining 41 “independents” (who had joined the SIC after winning the election) will now have to file signed statements before the ECP within 15 days, explaining that they had contested the general election as candidates of a particular political party.

On the possible merger of PTI and SIC in near future, he said, “It was the SIC that had braved every kind of pressure to provide its platform to the PTI for parliamentary politics. Mergers of political parties take place in normal times, these are extraordinary times and to anticipate any future situation about the merger of PTI and SIC is not possible at the moment.”

However, he added that both parties will contest the future elections as an alliance.

“The love and respect I am given by the people and PTI leadership, especially Imran Khan, has further strengthened my resolve to stay loyal to him through thick and thin,” the SIC leader said, adding that he would continue to remain part of the PTI’s Core Committee as well.

Mr Raza said he was re-organising the SIC across the country that would complete in six months.

The SIC, which was formed in 2009, came into limelight after the Feb 8 general elections when the PTI was deprived of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol and its candidates took part in the elections as independents.

After winning the polls, the PTI-backed candidates were facing problems in joining any political party registered with the ECP. Mr Khan then decided to send his winning candidates in national, KP and Punjab assemblies into the SIC, which was an ally of PTI.

“Khan sahab knew that I would brave the pressure and remain loyal to him, that’s why he chose my party as home of the PTI-backed winning candidates,” Mr Raza said.

Affidavits submitted

The PTI on its part said that most of the 41 SIC MNAs had already submitted their affidavits to the party which would be forwarded to the ECP.

“The PTI is extremely thankful to the SIC chief for standing with the party in such a testing time. However, after SC’s verdict on reserved seats, it has been decided that the head of SIC Sahibzada Hamid Raza (and Mr Gandapur) will represent the SIC in the National Assembly while 39 of the remaining SIC MNAs will return to [PTI,] their parent party,” PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan told Dawn on Sunday.

He added that 32 of the 41 SIC MNAs had so far submitted their affidavits to the PTI.

“Three of them are in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah while one, Ameer Sultan, has reportedly been abducted,” he said. He accused the powers that be of trying to stop the MNAs from returning to the PTI.

“After every such defeat, they are getting more barbaric in their action against the PTI,” Mr Hasan said and added that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)Sikandar Sultan Raja should resign after the SC verdict as he was left with no moral authority to cling to his post.

The spokesperson said PTI would soon launch a movement against CEC Raja.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2024