Daily Times

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has notified 39 returned MNAs as PTI lawmakers after the Supreme Court ordered the body to do so in its verdict on the reserved seats case, it emerged on Thursday.

The notification for the 39 MNAs was issued on Wednesday.

In a unique majority verdict, the Supreme Court on July 12 declared the PTI eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies, giving it a new lease on life in the legislature by declaring it to be a parliamentary party.

Despite an 8-5 split, all 13 judges declared the PTI a parliamentary party. The majority judgement explained that 39 out of the 80 MNAs, shown by the ECP as PTI candidates, belonged to the party.

The rest of the 41 independents would have to file duly signed and notarised statements before the commission within 15 days, explaining that they contested the February 8 general elections as a candidate of a particular political party.

The ECP had finally decided last week to implement the apex court’s decision. Friday’s meeting had noted that 39 MNAs who were declared as PTI lawmakers had mentioned their affiliation with the party in their nomination papers, whereas it was necessary for the candidates to submit a party ticket and declaration to the returning officer concerned, which was not done and it was not possible for the returning officers to declare them a PTI candidate in such situation.

“The 41 candidates who have been declared independent had neither mentioned PTI in their nomination papers nor disclosed their affiliation with the party. And also did not submit any party ticket. Therefore, the returning officers allowed them to participate in the election as independent candidates,” the ECP had explained.

The ECP notification said the following “returned candidates against general seats of National Assembly are declared to have been returned as candidates” of PTI.

The 39 MNAs are Amjad Ali Khan, Saleem Rehman, Sohail Sultan, Muhammad Bashir Khan, Mehboob Shah, Junaid Akbar, Ali Khan Jadoon, Asad Qaiser, Shahram Khan, Mujahid Al, Anwar Taj, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Arbab Amir Ayub, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sher Ali Arbab, Asif Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Shahid Khan, Nasim Ali Shah, Sher Afzal Khan, Usama Ahmed Mela, Shafqat Abbas, Ali Afzal Sahi, Rai Haider Ali Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Rana Atif, Changaze Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Ali Sarfraz, Khurram Shahzad Virk, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa, Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Rana Muhammad Faraz Noon, Mumtaz Mustafa, Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi, Umber Majeed, Awais Haider Jakhar and Zartaj Gul.

Meanwhile, the ECP approached the SC seeking legal and constitutional guidance on the matter of the remaining PTI lawmakers in the national and provincial assemblies.

The electoral body submitted a plea to the top court’s registrar via its secretary Omar Hamid Khan to seek an elaborated version of its July 12 order regarding the PTI-backed independent candidates in which the SC declared the former ruling party eligible for reserved seats.

However, the ECP raised some queries before the top court despite receiving the relevant party association particulars from the PTI-backed independent legislators.

In its civil miscellaneous application related to the SC order, the electoral body stated that the PTI lacked an organisational structure as per the ECP’s record, which “is statutory obligation of every enlisted political party to conduct intra-party elections in terms of Section 208 of the Election Act 2017”.

It further read that the SC order directed the PTI to confirm the statements of the MNAs and Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs).

However, the ECP was facing difficulty in implementing the order as the “PTI at the moment has no organisational structure for confirmation of the statements of MNAs and MPAs, purportedly belong to PTI”, it added.

Pointing towards ECP’s records which did not authorise Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the party chairman, the ECP also questioned the legal status of the PTI’s confirmation of statements regarding the lawmakers in the assemblies by an “unauthorised person” on behalf of the party in absence of the “validly elected organisational bodies”.

The poll organising body solicited the SC’s guidance on the legal points to implement the top court’s order in its true spirit.