• After Ayaz Sadiq, Sindh Assembly speaker also tells ECP apex court verdict can’t be implemented
• PTI says it will take the issue to court

ISLAMABAD: In its latest appraisal of party positions in the lower house, the National Assembly Secretariat has seemingly disregarded not only a Supreme Court verdict, but also an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notification, by excluding the PTI and declaring its members as part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The NA Secretariat recognises 80 lawmakers as being affiliated with SIC, while eight MNAs are classified as being independents. The latter includes Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Omar Ayub and other PTI-backed candidates.

The fresh list of party positions was apparently prepared by the Legislation Branch of the National Assembly a day before Speaker Ayaz Sadiq took the stance that lawmakers elected as ‘independents’ could not join the PTI after the period for declaring their party affiliation had passed.

However, the numbers do not line up with the party positions given on the official NA website. For example, the latest list gives the ruling PML-N 110 seats, while the NA website puts their number at 111.

According to the NA website, the breakup of parliamentarians is currently as follows:

This number does not include the 23 reserved seats that are disputed by the PTI.

It may be recalled that in its decision of July 12, the Supreme Court had declared PTI eligible for reserved seats, in spite of an amended law barring independently elected candidates from joining political parties after a specific deadline.

The majority verdict declared the PTI eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies by declaring it to be a parliamentary party.

Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified 39 MNAs as “PTI lawmakers”. These 39 were PTI members who had declared themselves as PTI-backed candidates at the time of the Feb 8 elections.

Another 41 lawmakers had not declared themselves as PTI-backed candidates, nor had they submitted certificates to the ECP or the NA, and were considered ‘independents’. Although the SC order declared them eligible to be considered PTI lawmakers, the NA speaker’s latest letter to the ECP indicated that the government is not willing to recognise this classification.

The letter highlighted the passage of the Elections (Second Amend­ment) Act 2024, which was signed into law on Aug 7 and came into retrospective effect from 2017. Speaker Sadiq wrote that the amendment precluded independent candidates from switching parties once they have declared their affiliation.

Following the NA custodian’s example, Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah has also written to the ECP, saying that the July 12 judgement of the Supreme Court cannot be implemented following the passage of the amendment to the Elections Act 2017.

In the letter, the Sindh Assembly speaker also refers to sections 66 and 104-A of the Elections Act 2017 — which were also referred to by the NA speaker in his letter — and says: “Independent candidates who once join a political party cannot be allowed to switch that party”.

PTI reaction

Reacting to the categorisation of PTI-allied lawmakers as ‘SIC’, the party’s spokesperson said that this was “nothing but contempt of Supreme Court”.

“We do not agree with it at all,” party’s Information Secretary Raoof Hasan said while talking to Dawn.

Replying to a question, he said that the party will approach the apex court over the issue.

Another party leader, who did not wish to be named, said that the government was trying to bring institutions face to face.

The decision is nothing but an insult to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and I hope there will be no grouping or personal opinions in the court over this issue. All the judges should be united as the institution’s respect and credibility are now at stake, he said.

“After failing to get the constitutional amendment approved from parliament, the ruling elite and other powers are now trying to find other ways to gain a two-thirds majority,” he said.

Ikram Junaidi in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024