ECP notifies 39 returned MNAs as PTI lawmakers

Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has notified 39 Member of National Assembly (MNAs) as members of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf.

The notification has been issued in the light of previous verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

The electoral watchdog has formally recognized these law makers, who earlier represented the Sunni Itehad Council (SIC), as the members of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI).

After this notification, the strength of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf’s Members of National Assembly (MNAs) are expected around 114 in the National Assembly (NA).

It is worth mentioning here that The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday July 9 reserved the verdict on the Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) plea against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) verdict upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision denying them the reserved seats.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a 13-member full court bench conducted the hearing today with Barrister Salman Akram Raja, representing Kanwal Shauzab, and SIC's Faisal Siddiqui presenting their arguments before the court.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan are also part of the bench.

The reserved seats issue

In March of last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided in a 4-1 vote that the SIC was ineligible for reserved seats due to significant legal flaws and failure to comply with mandatory requirements for submitting a party list.

Subsequent to this decision, the commission redistributed these seats among other parliamentary parties. The PML-N and PPP gained significantly, securing 16 and five additional seats respectively, while the JUI-F received four seats. The PTI, however, opposed the verdict, deeming it unconstitutional.

Later in the same month, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) dismissed an appeal from the SIC challenging the ECP's decision and upheld the denial of reserved seats to the party.

In April, the SIC, led by party chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the PHC's judgment.