ISLAMABAD: A five-member panel of the Election Commission of Pakistan postponed the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) request for the allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies until Wednesday.
The top electoral authority halted the issuance of notifications for 23 reserved seats, sparking a dispute between the government and President Arif Alvi.
President Alvi declined to summon the National Assembly session, deeming it “incomplete” due to the pending notifications.
The ECP panel held a public hearing on the matter after sending a notice to the SIC, which now includes numerous independent candidates supported by the PTI.
This decision was made during a meeting on Monday, prompted by a petition from the MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool against the proposed allocation of seats to the SIC.
Another petition filed by Moulvi Iqbal Haider seeks to prevent the SIC from being recognized as a parliamentary party, along with other related petitions scheduled for today’s hearing.
Sahibzada Hamid Raza, the head of SIC, along with representatives from various parties including PTI’s Barrister Gohar Khan and Babar Awan, PML-N’s Capt (retd) Safdar, Attaullah Tarar, and Azam Nazeer Tarar, have all arrived at the ECP Office in Islamabad.
Regarding the demand for reserved seats, the ECP has announced its decision except for those reserved for the SIC. The 23 seats expected to be allotted to the SIC remain unassigned to any political party.
The ruling alliance lacks a two-thirds majority to enact any constitutional amendment. However, if the ECP allocates the reserved seats intended for the SIC to other parties, the ruling alliance would achieve the required numbers in the National Assembly.
On February 21, the SIC petitioned the ECP seeking the allotment of reserved seats.
