By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Election Commission has officially recognized 39 lawmakers as members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, following a Supreme Court ruling that paves the way for the party’s return to parliament.
In a notification issued on Wednesday, the commission listed the 39 lawmakers who will represent the PTI in the National Assembly, in line with the court’s decision on July 12.
The ruling, hailed as a major victory for PTI, declared the party eligible for reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies.
The court’s majority verdict stated that 39 out of 80 lawmakers shown as PTI candidates belonged to the party, despite an 8-5 split among the 13 judges.
The remaining 41 independents must file duly signed and notarized statements with the commission within 15 days, explaining that they contested the February 8 general elections as candidates of a particular political party.
The recognition boosts PTI’s parliamentary presence, which had been in limbo since the Election Commission suspended victory notifications of 77 lawmakers elected on reserved seats in March.
The ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has lost its two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament, with its numerical strength shrinking from 228 to 209.
The PML-N’s strength in the House has reduced from 121 to 107, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) now has 67 seats, down from 72. The 22 suspended members of the National Assembly, elected on reserved seats for women and minorities, include 14 from PML-N, five from PPP, and three from JUI-F.
In its meeting on Friday, the ECP noted that the 39 MNAs declared as PTI lawmakers had mentioned their affiliation with the party in their nomination papers. However, it was necessary for the candidates to submit a party ticket and declaration to the returning officer concerned, which was not done. Therefore, it was not possible for the returning officers to declare them PTI candidates in such a situation.
“The 41 candidates declared independent had neither mentioned PTI in their nomination papers nor disclosed their affiliation with the party. They also did not submit any party ticket. Therefore, the returning officers allowed them to participate in the election as independent candidates,” the ECP explained.
The ECP stated that the following “returned candidates against general seats of the National Assembly are declared to have been returned as candidates” of PTI.
The 39 MNAs are: Amjad Ali Khan, Saleem Rehman, Sohail Sultan, Muhammad Bashir Khan, Mehboob Shah, Junaid Akbar, Ali Khan Jadoon, Asad Qaiser, Shahram Khan, Mujahid Ali, Anwar Taj, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Arbab Amir Ayub, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sher Ali Arbab, Asif Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Shahid Khan, Nasim Ali Shah, Sher Afzal Khan, Usama Ahmed Mela, Shafqat Abbas, Ali Afzal Sahi, Rai Haider Ali Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Rana Atif, Changaze Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Ali Sarfraz, Khurram Shahzad Virk, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa, Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, Malik Muhammad Aamir Dogar, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Rana Muhammad Faraz Noon, Mumtaz Mustafa, Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi, Umber Majeed, Awais Haider Jakhar, and Zartaj Gul.
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