ECP notifies PTI’s five MPAs on reserved seats in Punjab

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday notified five Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the Punjab Assembly on reserved seats that fell vacant following the de-seating of party’s 25 lawmakers over defection earlier this year.

According to a notification, Habkook Rafiq Babbu and Samuel Yaqoob have been declared as Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) on seats reserved for non-Muslims. These seats fell vacant due to the de-notification of PTI MPAs Ijaz Masih and Haroon Imran Gill.

Similarly, the three notified women MPAs on special seats included Batool Zain, Saira Raza and Fouzia Abbas Naseem. These seats fell vacant due to de-notification of Uzma Kardar, Aisha Nawaz and Sajida Yousaf over defection.

The party had submitted its list of priority candidates for the reserved on July 1.

Also read: PTI submits list of priority candidates on reserved seats

Last month, the election watchdog stayed the notification of new MPAs, saying the notification would be stayed until by-elections were held in the province on July 17.

Subsequently, PTI members filed different petitions challenging the ECP’s decision to defer issuing notifications. The party cast it as “injustice” and expressed misgivings about the rationale behind the stay as it manoeuvred to secure a favourable equation in the provincial assembly.

However, the Lahore High Court (LHC) later accepted the PTI’s plea and ordered the ECP to notify the party's members on the reserved seats.