Allocating reserved seats to PTI beyond comprehension: ECP sources

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sources have expressed their surprise over the Supreme Court’s decision regarding reserved seats, stating that the poll body did not misinterpret any decision and that there was no legal basis to declare 41 members as independent candidates after they won the election as those members did not specify their party affiliation in their nomination papers.

Geo News quoted ECP sources as saying that the poll body has always recognised PTI as a political party, and its name is included in the list of political parties on the election commission’s website.

They clarified that the election commission did not misinterpret any decision but did not validate PTI’s intra-party election.

The sources said that the PTI had approached various forums regarding the intra-party election, but every forum upheld election commission’s decision. Consequently, PTI’s bat symbol was withdrawn after the intra-party elections were deemed invalid by the ECP, the sources said.

Also read: Who are 41 PTI members asked by SC to confirm party affiliation?

The sources noted that 39 members have been declared as PTI MNAs in the Supreme Court’s decision. These 39 members had declared their affiliation with the PTI in their nomination papers. However, to be a candidate for any party, it is necessary to submit the party ticket and declaration to the returning officer (RO), which these 41 candidates did not do, the sources said.

As a result, the ECP sources said, the returning officers could not declare them as PTI candidates. The 41 candidates who were declared independent did not mention PTI in their nomination papers, nor did they submit party tickets or show party affiliation. Therefore, the returning officers allowed these 41 members to participate in the election as independents, the sources said.

The election commission sources emphasided that there was no legal provision to declare these 41 members as independent candidates after they won the election and they joined the Sunni Ittehad Council. They also mentioned that the Sunni Ittehad Council had appealed to the Supreme Court, but the appeal was rejected.

Furthermore, the sources pointed out that PTI was neither a party before the election commission, the Peshawar High Court, nor the Supreme Court but allocating the reserved seats to the PTI was beyond comprehension.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court issued a reserved decision on the petition of the Sunni Ittehad Council related to the reserved seats, overturning the decisions of the election commission and the Peshawar High Court and ordering the allocation of these seats to the PTI.

The 5-8 majority verdict of the 13-member full court bench affirmed that the PTI was and is a political party, and is entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities.

The decision emphasised that a political party’s right to participate in elections does not perish if it did not get the election symbol.

The decision instructed PTI to submit its list for reserved seats within 15 days, noting that 39 out of 80 MNAs had expressed their affiliation with PTI, while the remaining 41 members should submit an affidavit of party affiliation within 15 days.