PTI-backed MPs swell SIC ranks

Hafiz Hamid extends ‘unconditional support’ to PTI

ISLAMABAD:

The dust of controversy-marred elections on Feb 8 finally seemed to settle to some extent as the PTI, in its efforts to form a government, announced on Monday that its independent candidates, who emerged victorious in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would join the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

“Our candidates have submitted their affidavits with us and with their consent, today we are announcing that PTI-backed independents are joining the Sunni Ittehad Council,” PTI leader Barrister Gohar said while addressing a news conference in the federal capital.

He was flanked by the party’s chief organiser and nominee for premiership Omar Ayub Khan, Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Majlis Wahadat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.

Gohar observed that the PTI-backed independent candidates had emerged victorious in all the provinces, with more than 30 million ballots cast in the party’s favour. “We claim that the PTI has won 180 National Assembly seats. Our candidates will join Sunni Ittehad Council in national, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhunkhwa assemblies,” he said.

Gohar elaborated that the PTI had reached a "formal agreement" with SIC, noting that the step had been taken to protect the reserved seats. "There are 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and 227 reserved seats in the country, and these seats are only provided to political parties," he said.

“Hence, to protect our reserved seats and provide cover to our members, we have reached a formal agreement under which all our candidates have joined the SIC and we will present this documentation before the ECP.”

Parties are allocated 70 reserved seats - 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims - in proportion to the number of seats won. This completes the National Assembly's total 336 seats. Independents are not eligible for reserved seats.

He added that a request would be submitted to the ECP to allocate the reserved seats according to the party's strength.

Gohar stressed that Form 47 should have been made in accordance with Form 45. Forms 45 and 47 are the official documentation of the election results.

After voting is completed and ballots are counted at a polling station, the presiding officer fills out Form 45 and submits it to the returning officer of the constituency. The returning officer then gathers and tallies results from Form 45 from every polling station in the constituency to determine the final results.

Meanwhile, prior to official confirmation of final results, Form 47 documents the unconfirmed results in a constituency. This includes the number of votes polled in the constituency, a candidate-wise breakdown of votes, and the number of votes cancelled or rejected. Form 47 is prepared by tallying results obtained from Form 45s.

On election night, reports surfaced that candidates and their representatives were being denied Form 45 by the presiding officers with the PTI expressing concerns over the “non-provision of Form 45” to its polling agents.

Gohar said PTI’s seven to eight seats from Peshawar were rigged by the deputy commissioner and others, demanding that the “engineering in polls” be investigated as it was a matter of public mandate.

He said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was with the PTI in their struggle against rigging in polls.

Referring to PTI founder Imran Khan, Gohar stated that the decision about the return of turncoats to the party could only be taken by prisoner number 804.

Independents join SIC

As the development unfolded, 50 of the 93 successful PTI-backed independent candidates who won the National Assembly seats in the general elections officially joined the SIC and submitted the party certificate along with affidavits to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The SIC chairman sent a letter to the polls supervisory body, urging it to issue a notification in this regard.

Meanwhile, over 60 triumphant independent candidates from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have officially become members of the SIC. The recently elected assembly members have submitted their affidavits to the designated chief minister.

The PTI fell short of securing a hat-trick in forming the government for the third consecutive term in the province. As per official records, the SIC will be at the helm of the provincial government, not the PTI.