ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Azam Nazir Tarar on Tuesday said that only political parties with representation in parliament can qualify for allotment of reserved minority and women seats.
Speaking to the media outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Azam Nazir Tarar pointed out that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), without winning any seat or contesting the elections, is now demanding reserved seats.
Political parties that have secured seats in parliament are eligible for seat allocation.
He further stated that the legal position on reserved mandates is clear and reserved seats will only be given to parties with parliamentary mandates. He said the SIC did not make the PML-N a party in its petition for reserved seats, while other political parties had filed a petition with the Election Commission. According to him, the commission has consolidated all the petitions related to allotment of alternate seats for minorities and women.
The PML-N leader pointed out that there is a lot of discussion about the delay in allotment of reserved seats and the same individuals have also requested the Election Commission to postpone the case. Ali Zafar asked the EC for more time to submit a reply by tomorrow. He further said that the legal position on reserved seats is clear and parties that win seats in parliament will get reserved seats.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leader Atta Tarar criticized the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) for hastily joining the Sunni Unity Council in an attempt to secure specific seats, which is against the constitution.
He said that PTI’s actions led to their own downfall as under the constitution and the law holding internal party elections could have been avoided in this situation.
Atta Tarar mentioned that if the SIC members submitted their priority for the reserve list on time, they could claim the reserve seats as usual. He criticized the PTI for trying to violate the constitution and said it was not a surprise. He accused PTI of violating the law and emphasized that PTI does not exist in Parliament.
