Non-Muslims exclusion led to denial of reserved seats for SIC: ECP

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has submitted a reply to the Supreme Court regarding the non-allocation of reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The ECP stated that, under the SIC’s constitution, non-Muslims cannot become its members, and hence, it was not eligible for the seats reserved for women and minorities.

According to the ECP’s reply, the deadline for submitting the list of candidates for reserved seats was January 24, but the SIC did not submit the list until the deadline had lapsed.

The ECP stated that the candidates were asked to provide a certificate confirming their allegiance to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ideology. However, the candidates later withdrew from the PTI ideology and were declared independent candidates.

The ECP said that the independent candidates joined the SIC after the elections. The ECP made a four-to-one decision not to grant reserved seats to the SIC, a decision upheld by the Peshawar High Court.

The commission further stated that the SIC is not eligible for reserved seats, and the decisions by the election commission and the Peshawar High Court are in accordance with the constitution and law.

The reply pointed out that, according to the SIC’s constitution, a non-Muslim cannot become a member, which is against the constitution, making the SIC ineligible for the seats reserved for women and minorities.

Also read: Today’s Supreme Court hearing on ‘reserved seats case’ in a nutshell

Meanwhile, the SIC submitted further documents to the Supreme Court regarding the case. SIC lawyer Salman Akram Raja, representing Kanwal Shuzab, provided additional documents to the Supreme Court, including notifications of two successful members of the National Assembly issued by the election commission.

The documents also included decisions related to the application against the declaration of an independent candidate and the election commission’s decision on February 2 regarding independent members.

The petition stated that these additional documents are crucial for deciding the case of reserved seats and requested that they be allowed to be made part of the court record in the instant case. The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Afez Isa, will resume hearing of the case on June 24.