National Assembly Party Update PML-N Leads, Sunni Ittehad Council Surges with PTI Support
As per details, ECP officially notified the National Assembly Secretariat regarding the party positions in NA.
According to the ECP report, the Sunni Alliance Council (SIC) has a total of 82 members including 49 from Punjab and 33 independent candidates after a PTI-backed candidate joined the SIC, making it the second-largest party in the National Assembly.
The report stated that PML-N is the largest party in NA with 120 members, followed by
Sunni Ittehad Council with 82 members (including 49 from Punjab and 33 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), PPP 71, MQM 21, JUI 11, PML-Q 5, IPP 4 and MWM, PKMAP, BNP, PMAP, BAP PML-Z each have one member.
The Election Commission has clarified that no specific seats have been allocated to the Sunni Ittehad Council.
The National Assembly Secretariat had requested the Election Commission to provide an updated party position, which has now been notified.
The development came after the NA Secretariat earlier announced that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent members of the National Assembly (NA) cannot be considered lawmakers belonging to the Sunni Alliance Council (SIC) yet.
NA Secretariat
According to the details, the NA Secretariat said that it has not been conveyed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) about independent MNAs joining the SIC.
“The PTI-backed lawmakers would be considered independents until the National Assembly Secretariat receives the party affiliation notification from the ECP,” the secretariat said in a statement.
On February 18, the PTI, whose candidates contested the February 8 general elections ‘independently’, decided to ally with the SIC.
Related: PTI stands by its decision of alliance with SIC Barrister Gohar
Previously, the PTI had also announced to form a coalition in Centre and Punjab with the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) but the move faced backlash by some party members.
On March 18, Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali said that the party stood by its decision to ally with the SIC. Barrister Gohar Ali said that some of the party leaders had a ‘difference’ of opinion in allying with the SIC, adding that the majority approved the decision.
The PTI chairman termed the decision a ‘right’ one. He said that ‘unlike’ Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the PTI decides in consultation with the party’s members.
