(): Pakistan’s Election Commission has notified 39 successful MPs as lawmakers of Imran Khan’s party after the Supreme Court ordered the top electoral body to do so in its verdict on the reserved seats case, a media report said on Thursday.
The notification for the 39 MNAs (Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan) was issued on Wednesday, the Dawn newspaper reported.
On July 12, the Supreme Court declared jailed former prime minister Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies, giving the party a new lease on life in the legislature by declaring it to be a parliamentary party.
Despite an 8-5 split, all 13 judges declared the PTI a parliamentary party. The majority judgement explained that 39 out of the 80 MNAs, shown by the ECP as PTI candidates, belonged to the party. The rest of the 41 independents would have to file duly signed and notarised statements before the commission within 15 days, explaining that they contested the February 8 general elections as a candidate of a particular political party, the paper said. The ECP had finally decided last week to implement the apex court’s decision. In a notification, the ECP said the following “returned candidates against general seats of National Assembly are declared to have been returned as candidates” of Khan’s political party.
