By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party introduced a bill in parliament on Tuesday aimed at restricting independent lawmakers from joining political parties after a certain period.
The proposed legislation, which seeks to amend the Election Act 2017, comes as the country’s top court recently ruled that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former prime minister Imran Khan is eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies.
The bill, tabled by PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani, aims to clarify the law regarding independent candidates joining political parties. It proposes that a candidate will be considered an independent if they do not file a declaration with the returning officer before the allotment of the election symbol showing their affiliation with a political party.
“The Elections Act, 2017 and rules made thereunder also provide for the right to independent returned candidate or candidates to duly join a political party at his consent,” the bill’s statement of object and reasons said.
The bill argues that neither the Constitution nor the Elections Act 2017 provide for joining a political party by an independent returned candidate or candidates at a subsequent stage when they have already exercised the option to join the political party at a point in time specified in the Constitution.
The bill proposes that a candidate will be considered an independent if they do not file a declaration with the returning officer before the allotment of the election symbol showing their affiliation with a political party.
“If any political party fails to submit its list for reserved seats within the prescribed period, it will not be eligible for the quota of reserved seats at a later time,” the bill suggested.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar suggested that the bill be referred to a committee for input from all political parties, while National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq granted leave to introduce the bill after a vote.
Earlier this month, the top court ruled that the party of jailed Khan is eligible for reserved seats in parliament, a landmark verdict that piles pressure on the fragile ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The court’s decision means Khan’s PTI party is entitled to over 20 extra seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
The party had contested the February 8 general elections as independents after the party was stripped of its election symbol of the cricket bat by the ECP on the technical grounds that it did not hold intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to take part in polls. Khan-backed candidates, however, won the most seats. But, the election commission ruled they were ineligible for the 70 reserved seats for women and minorities, which are allocated to political parties only.
After the election, the PTI-backed candidates were forced to join Sunni Ittehad Council, or SIC, party to claim a share of 70 reserved seats as independents are not eligible for the extra seats. The seats were later allotted to other parties, mostly from those in Sharif’s ruling coalition.
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