List doesn\u2019t include 15 reserved seats given to PML-N, five to PPP and three allotted to JUI-F
\n ISLAMABAD
\nThe National Assembly secretariat has issued its revised party position list in the lower house of parliament reflecting each political party\u2019s standings excluding the disputed reserved seats.
\nThe list \u2014 issued by the electoral body on September 18 i.e., prior to the Speaker Ayaz Sadiq\u2019s letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the Supreme Court\u2019s July 12 verdict \u2014 does not include the 15 reserved seats given to the Pakistan Muslim-League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the five and three seats given to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JIU-F).
\nThe development comes a day after NA Speaker Sadiq, in his letter to the ECP termed the top court\u2019s ruling \u201cincapable of implementation\u201d after the amendments to the Election Act 2017.
\nThe letter refers to the apex court\u2019s decision which declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats, essentially paving the way for the resurrection of the Imran Khan-founded party in the assemblies.
\nFollowing the decision, the electoral body had notified 93 lawmakers as belonging to the PTI in various legislatures. However, the incumbent ruling coalition then bulldozed the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 and Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the NA and the Senate on August 6, respectively and the legislation came into force with President Asif Ali Zardari\u2019s assent on August 9.
\nIn his letter to the ECP, Sadiq underscored two \u201cparticular provisions\u201d \u2014 amendments to Section 66 and Section 104-A, which he said, were relevant for the Election Commission\u2019s consideration.
\nIn its amendment to Section 66 of the Elections Act, the bill says that if a candidate does not submit a declaration of his affiliation with a political party to the returning officer (RO) before seeking allotment of the election symbol, they shall be \u201cdeemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party\u201d.
\nMeanwhile, the amendment to Section 104 reads that the declaration, consent or affidavit, by whatever name called, of an independent returned candidate once given for joining a political party shall be irrevocable and cannot be substituted or withdrawn.
\nFurthermore, the letter pointed out Section 1 (2) of the Amended Election Act, which states that the said amendments will have a retrospective effect from 2017 when the Election Act 2017 was passed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
List doesn\u2019t include 15 reserved seats given to PML-N, five to PPP and three allotted to JUI-F ISLAMABAD The National Assembly secretariat has issued its revised party position list in the lower house of parliament reflecting each political party\u2019s standings excluding the disputed reserved seats. The list \u2014 issued by the electoral body on September […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-432363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n