SIC becomes second-largest party in NA

Speaker accepts inclusion of PTI-backed independents in the party

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly Secretariat has accepted the inclusion of PTI-backed independent members in the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and finally released their list on its official website.

According to the list, 83 lawmakers are now part of the SIC, which has emerged as the second-largest party in the lower house of the parliament.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sent a notification to the National Assembly Secretariat regarding the inclusion of independent members in the SIC.

The PTI, the former ruling party, was stripped of its election symbol in December 2023 due to its failure to hold intra-party elections properly. The Supreme Court later upheld the ECP order, compelling the party to field its candidates in the February 8 general elections as independents.

Read more: SIC chief advises PTI to resign from assemblies

However, the independents emerged as the largest group in the National Assembly. According to the country’s election laws, independent candidates must join a political party within three days after the announcement of official election results, and the PTI-backed returning candidates joined the SIC.

Despite this move, the polls oversight authority refused to allocate reserved seats to the SIC because it had not submitted its list of nominees for the reserved seats ahead of the polls. These seats were later allocated to other parties, making the PML-N the largest party with 120 seats.