The issue of allotment of reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council took an interesting turn on Tuesday as Pakistan Muslim League-N laid claim on the said seats, arguing the SIC cannot be given seats as it even did not contest the elections.
The Election Commission of Pakistan five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikarndar Sultan Raja heard six applications on Tuesday regarding allotment of reserved seats to the SIC.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Farogh Nasim, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ataullah Tarar and Farooq H Naek appeared before the ECP bench which adjourned the hearing for Wednesday, directing to club all the petitions.
The set of pleas included seeking record of affidavits for joining SIC and urging ECP not to declare SIC a parliamentary party. Farooq Naek argued that it should be established first whether the SIC qualifies for these seats or not.
Azam Nazeer Tarar, meanwhile, laid PML-N claim on these seats, saying these seats should be given to the remaining PML-N candidates as the SIC has no right on them.
Ali Zafar was of the view that it should be decided first who were the applicants and why they were here. Azam Nazeer Tarar said the SIC did not provide its priority list first.
Later, talking to media men outside the ECP building, Azam Nazeer Tarar blasted the Sunni Ittehad Council, the new face of PTI-backed independents, for expecting reserved seats in the National Assembly, calling it an illogical stance.
“This is a party that didn’t even contest elections, didn’t win a single seat, and they’re saying they have the right to reserved seats because a bunch of independent candidates joined them,” he said and added “You can’t sit outside and say this is ‘cruelty’ and complain, and then not listen to what others have to say about this.”
