Disqualification references 'filed' against SIC MPAs in ECP

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan has filed disqualification references against 26 members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ARY News reported citing sources.

On June 27, 2025, the opposition MPs allegedly caused disruption and damaging property during a Punjab Assembly session. In response, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan suspended the membership of these 26 SIC lawmakers.

Later on June 28, the Speaker announced his decision to refer the matter to the ECP for the disqualification of the suspended members.

According to sources, he visited the ECP office in Islamabad to formally submit the references, which include evidence of the MPs’ disorderly actions.

The references aim to terminate the membership of the 26 SIC MPAs, citing their violation of assembly decorum and constitutional norms. The ECP is expected to review the references and decide on the lawmakers’ fate in accordance with legal provisions.

Also read: Punjab Assembly Speaker suspends 26 opposition members

It is worth mentioning here that Speaker Punjab Assembly suspended 26 opposition members of Punjab Assembly over “causing disturbance during the assembly proceedings”.

Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan notified suspension of 26 lawmakers for the next 15 sittings owing to violation of decorum of the assembly.

The members suspended by the speaker included Malik Fahad Masood, Muhammad Tanvir Aslam, Syed Riffat Mehmood, Yasir Mehmood Qureshi, Kalimullah Khan, Muhammad Ansar Iqbal, Ali Asif, Zulfiqar Ali, Ahmed Mujtaba Chaudhry, Shahid Javed, Muhammad Ismail, Khayal Ahmed, Shehbaz Ahmed, Tayyab Rashid, Imtiaz Mehmood, Ali Imtiaz, Rashid Tufail, Murtaza Iqbal, Khalid Zubair, Ijaz Shafi, Saima Kanwal, Muhammad Naeem, Sajjad Ahmed, Rana Aurangzeb, Shoaib Mir and Usama Asghar Ali Gujjar.

“It is our democratic right to protest,” PTI MPA Mian Ijaz Shafi, one of the suspended legislators, has said.

“We have been suspended on the direction of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz,” Ijaz Shafi claimed. “We won’t be silenced at any cost,” PTI MPA said.