ISLAMABAD: Senior counsel Salman Akram Raja told the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) on Wednesday that PTI members had joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) en masse in view of the precedent set by the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), which was allocated reserved seats after the 2018 elections despite not winning any seats in parliament.
The counsel, who represented PTI candidate Kanwal Shauzab, also told the 11-judge CB hearing the reserved seats case that 80 PTI members joined the SIC as a result of unprecedented uncertainty, ‘created by the Election Commission of Pakistan’ (ECP), which left PTI members confused over how they should identify themselves during the Feb 8, 2024, general elections, or remain independent.
During the hearing, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan reminded the counsel that being a beneficiary of the July 12 majority judgement, he was defending the verdict without justifying his locus standi, especially when his application to become intervener in the case was still undecided.
Through the Dec 2023 notification, ECP had effectively de-recognised PTI as a political party on the grounds that it failed to hold intra-party elections, Mr Raja argued.
41 out of 80 SIC-joined members had notarised affiliation with PTI, says Salman Akram Raja
Consequently, PTI had to issue a list showing which candidates were backed by the party, the counsel explained, adding that PTI had no option but to declare its members independent.
The 41 individuals — out of a total of 80 — who, in accordance with the July 12, 2024, majority judgement, notarised their affiliation with PTI, were also part of the original list of PTI candidates.
Mr Raja explained that the returned candidates were required to join a political party within three days after the elections. Since there was a precedent involving the BAP — which was allocated reserved seats despite not contesting the 2018 polls — the members joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) en bloc.
The ECP is bound by the past precedent and, therefore, should allocate reserved seats to PTI, he emphasised.
Independents later joined SIC in view of the BAP precedent, the counsel said.
At this, Justice Aminuddin Khan, who was presiding over the Constitutional Bench, asked the counsel whether he was seeking the allocation of reserved seats on the same analogy as that of the BAP.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, however, interjected to point out that although BAP may not have participated in the KP elections, it had formed a government in Balochistan after the 2018 elections.
