The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that it has decided to implement the Supreme Court’s decision in the reserved seats case with a few conditions.
In a lengthy statement issued after a meeting, ECP said that the law wing has been instructed to point out any possible hurdles in the implementation of the decision so the SC can be approached.
ECP said that the 39 MNAs that were considered to be part of PTI by the SC had submitted an affiliation as part of their nomination papers but they had not filed a declaration with the returning officer.
The statement added that returning officers had no way to affirm if 41 independent MNAs were affiliated with PTI. It added that PTI was not even a party in the case. It added that Sunni Ittehad Council had filed the appeal in the court and the case had been decided against it.
ECP also recounted how the bat symbol had been withdrawn from the PTI as a ‘logical’ consequence of the party’s failure to hold intra-party elections.
The Commission also rejected PTI’s demand to resign without mentioning the party’s name. It also condemned the party’s continuous criticism on the ECP.
The legal wing of the Election Commission of Pakistan has recommended that the body should wait for the detailed verdict in the reserved seats case before implementation.
According to soures, the law wing believes there are ‘ambiguities’ in the decision.
However, the final decision will be made by approval of the ECP.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a list of 38 independent members of the National Assembly (MNAs) to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, the affidavits of three independent MNAs are still pending.
Sources revealed that following the Supreme Court’s decision regarding reserved seats, PTI submitted the list of 38 independent MNAs to the ECP.
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A PTI representative submitted the list along with additional documents.
Sources claim that the affidavits of three independent MNAs, namely Sahibzada Mahboob Sultan, Mubeen Arif, and Riaz Fatiana, are yet to be submitted as they are currently abroad.
PTI sources have confirmed that the affiliation forms of the three independent MNAs will be submitted today.
