ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea for allocation of minority and women reserve seats in national and provincial assemblies.
A five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, firmly stated that Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is not entitled to have reserved seats for women and minorities.
The Election Commission also stated that Sunni Ittehad Council is not entitled to avail special seat allocations for women and minorities. The ECP reached its decision with a 4-1 ratio, with member Punjab Babar Hasan Bharwana, submitting dissent in a note.
The SIC submitted a plea in ECP claiming the allocation of seats based on inclusion of PTI-endorsed candidates within their party. This plea, conveyed by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza through a PTI representative, was submitted to the electoral watchdog.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring their intra-party polls “unconstitutional” and stripp
ing them of the electoral symbol of the ‘bat’, PTI candidates participated in the elections as independents.
According to the Constitution, reserved seats are assigned to political parties according to the number of their representatives elected to general seats. Prior to the February 8 elections, the ECP had already received lists of candidates from political parties for this purpose.