Pakistan poll body rejects PTI-backed SIC plea seeking allocation of reserved seats

A five-member bench, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the matter and reserved the verdict on February 28.

Pakistan’s election commission on Monday ruled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is not eligible for the reserved seats allotted to women and minorities in Parliament after the general elections. The electoral body announced the split decision with a 4-1 majority, with ECP Punjab member Hassan Bharwana dissenting with the majority verdict, Geo News reported.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the SIC, a political alliance of Islamic political and Barelvi religious parties in Pakistan, is not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to having non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of law.

The ECP had reserved the verdict on the petitions filed by the SIC seeking the allocation of women and minority seats after PTI-backed winning candidates joined its ranks following the February 8 elections. A five-member bench, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the matter and reserved the verdict on February 28.

The PTI-backed independent candidates took the lead in the February 8 elections after they won the 92 National Assembly seats followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) (79) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) (54). The reserved seats were allocated to all political parties according to their strength in the assemblies except the PTI-backed SIC.