ECP reserved verdict on SIC’s plea seeking specific seats

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reserved the verdict on the petitions filed by the Sunni Itthad Council (SIC) seeking the allocation of women and minority seats.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja heard the issue of specific seats of Sunni Ittehad Council in which Ali Zafar, Barrister Gohar, Farogh Naseem, Azam Nazir Tarar, Kamran Murtaza, Farooq Naik and others gave arguments.

Ali Zafar, the lawyer of the Sunni Ittehad Council, said that the ECP ordered yesterday that all the applications should be consolidated.

On this, the Chief Election Commissioner said that not all the parties but the relevant parties of the Assembly have been called. Ali Zafar replied that the order of the ECP cannot be meaningless.

Ali Zafar said that the fact is that PTI’s symbol was taken, it was said in the Supreme Court that if they do not give the symbol, there will be a problem of specific seat. The winning candidates contested the election on different symbols, the independent candidates in the all  Assembly are more than the political parties.

Ali Zafar said in his arguments that the party which you registered and gave the symbol is a political party, PTI is a registered party in the list of Election Commission, if the symbol is found, that party can contest the election under the Election Act.

Meanwhile, PPP’s lawyer Farooq Naek said that the Sunni Ittehad Council has not submitted any priority list, the political party cannot even modify the priority list after the deadline for submission of nomination papers has passed.

PML-N’s lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar argued that the priority list will be given according to the law, such a party which did not participate in the election, can independent members join it.

MQM’s lawyer Farogh Naseem argued that in the eyes of the law Sunni Ittehad Council is not a parliamentary party, reserved seats should be given to MQM according to quota.

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Later, the Election Commission reserved its decision on the specific seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council after the arguments of all the parties were completed.