ECP five-member bench adjourns hearing on reserved seats issue till tomorrow (Wednesday)
- Zafar says PTI approached ECP to demand reserved seats.
- Naek says the ECP should decide who should get the reserved seats.
- Gohar hopes the issue will be decided tomorrow.
ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Tuesday consolidated all the petitions filed by the Sunni Itthad Council (SIC) regarding allocation of reserved seats.
The election watchdog on Monday decided to hold an open hearing on the SIC's application seeking allocation of reserved seats after PTI-backed legislators joined its ranks.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) coordinator Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, advocate Farogh Naseem and SIC lawyer Ali Zafar appeared before the five-member court.
During today's hearing, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) advocate Farooq H Naek and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Azam Nazeer Tarar presented arguments during today's hearing.
Additionally, CEC Raja also issued notices to Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, SIC, Mahmood Khan, Maulvi Iqbal Haider and Kunz-us-Saadat.
The news came after it emerged that President Alvi had reportedly refused to sign a summary by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs requesting the convening of a session of the National Assembly.
President Alvi maintained that the remaining reserved seats should be allocated before convening the National Assembly session which, according to the Constitution, was to be held within 21 days of the elections.
today's audience
At the beginning of the hearing, Barrister Zafar said that the PTI had approached the ECP to claim the reserved seats and if the political parties wanted to occupy the seats they should say so openly.
The MQM-P, PPP and PML-N should present themselves as political parties and claim those seats, he told the court.
“My argument is that if someone comes and claims ownership of a seat, they can't get it,” he said.
An ECP member informed him that Siddiqui had been demanding that the seats not be given to the PTI.
Naek then interrupted and said he also represented a political party. He said it was the prerogative of the commission to decide who should be given the reserved seats.
Advocate Zafar said that no one had the right to occupy his seat as his petition regarding reserved seats was also present in the ECP, which should be fixed for hearing.
The CEC said the ECP had fixed the relevant grounds of hearing and that Zafar was a litigant in the cases.
Tarar argued that since the SIC did not win a single seat, then how can it be given reserved seats by bringing together some independent candidates.
The PTI-backed candidates entered parliament through a party that was rejected by the masses, he said, adding that they had not filed a petition asking for reserved seats earlier.
He said the SIC was not a parliamentary party, so it could be allocated reserved seats.
To this, CEC Raja responded that he should leave that for the ECP to decide.
The electoral commission adjourned the hearing consolidating all the allegations until tomorrow (Wednesday).
CEC Raja told Zafar that he was also preparing his petitions for tomorrow.
Assembly sessions in Punjab, Sindh illegal: Gohar
PTI leader Advocate Gohar Ali Khan said no assembly session could be held until the reserved seats were decided.
He said the sessions held by the Sindh and Punjab assemblies were “illegal”, so the ECP should take note of them.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Gohar said the party hoped that the ECP's decision on the issue of allocation of reserved seats would be fair and equitable.
Highlighting the SIC's right to its share of reserved seats, the PTI leader said he hoped the issue would be decided on Wednesday. He informed that the PTI had filed four appeals before the ECP on behalf of the SIC seeking allotment of its reserved seats.
“At least 90 MPAs joined the SIC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 107 in Punjab, nine in Sindh and seven in Balochistan,” he said.
Gohar said the electoral body's cause list did not include the case, so it was adjourned until the next day. He said the mandate was taken away on February 8 because they were not assigned the “bat” symbol.
He stated that they had a total of 227 seats.
It is written in the law that an independent candidate can join any party within three days, he said, hoping that the ECP will announce its verdict taking into account the people's mandate.
