The issue of allotment of reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) took an interesting turn on Tuesday as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) laid claim on the said seats, arguing the SIC cannot be given seats as it even did not contest the elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikarndar Sultan Raja heard six applications on Tuesday regarding allotment of reserved seats to the SIC.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Farogh Nasim, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ataullah Tarar and Farooq H Naek appeared before the ECP bench which adjourned the hearing for Wednesday, directing to club all the petitions.
The set of pleas included seeking record of affidavits for joining SIC and urging ECP not to declare SIC a parliamentary party.
Farooq Naek argued that it should be established first whether the SIC qualifies for these seats or not.
Azam Nazeer Tarar, meanwhile, laid PML-N claim on these seats, saying these seats should be given to the remaining PML-N candidates as the SIC has no right on them.
Ali Zafar was of the view that it should be decided first who were the applicants and why they were here.
Azam Nazeer Tarar said the SIC did not provide its priority list first.
Later, talking to media men outside the ECP building, Azam Nazeer Tarar blasted the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), the new face of PTI-backed independents, for expecting reserved seats in the National Assembly, calling it an illogical stance. “This is a party that didn’t even contest elections, didn’t win a single seat, and they’re saying they have the right to reserved seats because a bunch of independent candidates joined them,” he said and added “You can’t sit outside and say this is ‘cruelty’ and complain, and then not listen to what others have to say about this.”
He said “If PML-N candidates had not won the seats they contested on, we wouldn’t be saying the assembly is incomplete because of their absence.”
“Speak logically, don’t just add political slogans wherever you see fit,” he taunted the rivals.
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali stated stated that no assembly session could be called without notifying reserved seats. “The Punjab Assembly session was called in an illegal manner. The Sindh Assembly session was carried out in an illegal manner. If the National Assembly session is called that will also be illegal because the assemblies should be convened after all the members of the House are notified,” he made it clear.
Gohar urged the Election Commission to take notice of it and notify the reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council.
He said that the people have given their mandate, and expressed hopes that the ECP would listen to “what the people voted for on Feb 8”. “These reserved seats belong to SIC, no other political party can lay claim to them,” Gohar added.
Reporter Usman Khan