ECP adjourns hearing on reserved seats of SIC in NA

Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the case of reserved seats of Sunni Unity Council (SIC) in the National Assembly.

According to the details, a five-member bench of the ECP heard the case. The Election Commission has withheld the notification of 23 reserved seats of the National Assembly and this issue has also caused a conflict between the government and President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi.

Due to the non-issue of the notification, President Arif Alvi rejected the summary of convening the National Assembly session, declaring the House incomplete.

The Election Commission held an open hearing in Islamabad on Tuesday in which other political parties also become parties. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other parties have opposed giving reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council.

PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarar said before the ECP that the SIC has no elected seat in the parliament, nor has it contested the election as a party, so how can it get specific seats.

The Chief Election Commissioner replied that the members of the Sunni Ittehad Council have not appeared in a personal capacity but as a party, leave this matter to the Election Commission.

Barrister Guhar on behalf of the SIC stated that reserved seats are the fundamental right of the Sunni Ittehad Council. It does not make any sense that in what capacity the members of other parties have come to the Election Commission.

After hearing all the parties, the Election Commission adjourned the hearing till Wednesday. The decision on the reserved seats is expected on Wednesday.

Sahibzada Hamid Raza, the head of the SIC, reached the election commission for the hearing.

Barrister Gohar, Babar Awan also reached on behalf of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). While Farooq H. Naik and Jahangir Jadoon have also reached the ECP.

On the other hand, PML-N’s Captain Safdar, Attaullah Tarar, Azam Nazir Tarar also reached the Election Commission.

It is pertinent to note that ECP has almost decided on the reserved seats in the National Assembly. Only the reserved seats for women and minorities in the SIC have not been decided, however, the 23 seats belonging to the SIC have not been allotted to any other party.

The Election Commission's decision on these 23 seats is going to prove to be the answer. According to the current party position, the six-party ruling alliance does not have a two-thirds majority for the constitutional amendment, but if the ECP distributes the seats belonging to the Sunni Ittehad Council to other parties, the ruling alliance will get a two-thirds majority.

The SIC had submitted an application to the Election Commission on February 21 for the reserved seats.