It's official: PTI is a parliamentary party - now

ISLAMABAD:

In a move that breathes new life into the party's legislative standing, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has begun implementing the Supreme Court's decision, officially recognising 39 lawmakers as PTI assembly members and issuing their notifications.

The ECP has sought further guidance from the apex court regarding the status of 41 other members.

The body updated its website to reflect the affiliation of these 39 National Assembly lawmakers with PTI, following their declarations in nomination papers for the February 8 elections.

The major step was confirmed during a session chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

Despite having lost its election symbol, PTI's candidates contested the February 8 polls as independents. These independents were instructed to align with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to qualify for reserved seats.

However, PTI's bid for reserved seats was thwarted by the ECP and upheld by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), citing the party's failure to submit the necessary list of candidates on time.

The SC's ruling on July 12 overturned this decision, affirming that PTI, having won general seats in the February 8 elections, is entitled to reserved seats. The full bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, declared the PHC's March 25 judgment and the ECP's March 1 order as unconstitutional and without legal standing.

In response to the SC's directives, the ECP has been busy deliberating and taking action to align with the court's ruling, thereby giving PTI a fresh shot in the legislature.

The ECP officially recognised and notified 39 members as PTI MNAs, including Amjad Ali Khan (NA-2, Swat), Saleem Rehman (NA-3, Swat), Sohail Sultan (NA-4, Swat), Mohammad Bashir Khan (NA-6), and Mehboob (NA-7).

The notification confirms that Junaid Akbar (NA-9), Ali Khan Jadoon (NA-17), Asad Qaiser (NA-19, Swabi), and Shehryar Khan (NA-20) are now PTI assembly members.

Other members notified include Mujahid Ali (NA-21), Anwar Taj (NA-24), Fazal Mohammad Khan (NA-25), Arbab Amir Ayub (NA-29), Shandana Gulzar (NA-30, Peshawar), Sher Ali Arbab (NA-31), Asif Khan (NA-32), Syed Shah Ahed Ali (NA-33), Shahid Khan (NA-38), Naseem Ali Shah (NA-39), Sher Afzal Marwat (NA-41), Usama Ahmad Meelak (NA-83, Sargodha), Shafqat Abbas (NA-84), Ali Afzal Sahi (NA-50), Rai Haider Ali (NA-96), Nisar Ahmad (NA-100), Rana Atif (NA-101), Chengez Ahmad (NA-102), Mohammad Ali Sarfraz (NA-103), Khurram Shehzad Virk (NA-115), Sardar Latif Khosa (NA-122), Rai Hasan Nawaz (NA-143), Aamir Dogar (NA-149), Zain Qureshi (NA-150), Rana Mohammad Faraz (NA-154), Mumtaz Mustafa (NA-171), Mohammad Shabbir Ali (NA-179), Amber Majeed (NA-181), Awais Haider Jhakar (NA-182), and Zartaj Gul (NA-185).

In a parallel move, the ECP has approached the Supreme Court for clarification regarding 41 independent members who have submitted their party affiliation documents, indicating their allegiance to PTI.

The ECP's letter to the Supreme Court Registrar stated that while these members have declared their affiliation with PTI, the party lacks a confirmed structure in the ECP records.

"That the PTI is a political party in the record of ECP without any organizational structure. According to Section 201(b) a political party shall formulate its constitution which shall include an organizational structure of the political party at the federal, provincial and local levels, whichever is applicable. It is statutory obligation of every enlisted political party to conduct intra-party elections in terms of Section 208 of the Election Act 2017 ("the Act") within the specified term in accordance with the party constitution and file a certificate in the Commission under Section 209 of the Act to confirm that the intra party election is conducted in accordance with the party constitution," the letter stated.

"The Order ibid directs that the political party shall confirm the statements of candidates (MNAs and MPAs) in terms of para 9 and 10 of the Order. A political party may exist on paper but it cannot operate nor confirm any statement in the absence of validly elected organizational bodies, mentioned in the party constitution. With this backdrop of the matter, the Commission is facing difficulty to implement the Order ibid as PTI at the moment has no organizational structure for confirmation of statements of MNAs/MPAs, purportedly belong to PTI," it added.

The ECP has requested in-chamber guidance on confirming the party affiliations of these independent members, noting that Barrister Gohar Ali Khan is not recognized as the PTI chairman in their records.

"Guidance is also solicited of the legal consequences of confirmation of statements of MNAs/MPAs by an unauthorized person on behalf of PTI in absence of its organizational structure," the letter said.

 

 

New Pandora's box

 

On the other hand, a fresh controversy erupted for PTI as revelations about key leaders Barrister Gohar Khan and Omar Ayub contesting as independents in the National Assembly elections have surfaced.

This has placed the party's central leadership in a new predicament.

Following the ECP's decision to recognise the affiliation of 39 National Assembly members with PTI, a list of members who contested as independents emerged on Thursday.

 

It has come to light that Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Umar Ayub submitted their nomination papers as independent candidates in the elections held on February 8 this year.

Interestingly, their nomination papers did not reflect any association with PTI.

The SC had previously allowed members who won as independents and joined the Sunni Ittehad Council to join PTI. However, Barrister Gohar and Omar Ayub chose to remain independent instead of joining the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The central leadership of the SIC also failed to indicate party affiliation in their nomination papers.

Other members who did not disclose their PTI affiliation in their nomination papers include Ali Muhammad Khan, Shehryar Afridi, Sheikh Waqas Akram, and Hamad Azhar's father, Mian Azhar, as well as Jamshed Dasti and Riaz Fatyana.

Moreover, SIC leader Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Aatif Khan, and Sanaullah Masti Khel are among those who did not disclose their PTI ties.

Among the independent members of the National Assembly are Ali Asghar Khan, Mubarak Zeb, Muhammad Aslam Ghuman, Usman Ali, Zahoor Ahmad, and Aurangzeb Kachhi.