PTI's parliamentary presence ends after update in National Assembly party positions

PTI’s 80 members moved to Sunni Ittehad Council following a directive from National Assembly Speaker.

Party positions in Pakistan’s National Assembly have shifted following a letter from Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The reshuffle, announced by the National Assembly Secretariat, sees 80 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – previously under the category of ‘Independent’ candidates – are now listed under the Sunni Ittehad Council.

The new party positions, released on September 18, also outline the distribution of seats for other parties.

The government benches include 110 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), 69 members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and 22 members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P).

Smaller parties like PML-Q and Muslim League-Zia hold five and one seats, respectively, with the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and National Party each having one seat.

The opposition benches now comprise 80 members of the Sunni Ittehad Council, eight members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), and eight independent members supported by PTI.

Additional representation comes from Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), each with one seat.

The National Assembly currently has 213 members on the government benches, excluding 20 reserved seats, while the opposition has 80 members from Sunni Ittehad Council in addition to one-member each from other smaller parties.

Meanhile, one independent member on the opposition side recently joined PML-N.

Previously, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had written to the Election Commission, requesting the allocation of reserved seats in line with the Election Act.

The letter clarified that any member of parliament who did not submit a party certificate with their nomination papers would be considered an independent candidate.

Furthermore, independent members who joined a political party would not be permitted to switch affiliations.

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, PML-N has been allocated 15 reserved seats, while PPP and JUI-F have been given five seats each.

However, these reserved seats are not included in the official count. The total number of members in the National Assembly currently stands at 313, excluding the 23 reserved seats.

Once the 23 vacant and disputed seats are awarded to PTI, the total number of members in the assembly will rise to 336.