Party affiliation should not be changed, proposes NA bill

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) presented an amendment to the Election Act, 2017 in the National Assembly, proposing that independent candidates’ affidavits regarding the party affiliation should not be changed, ARY News reported.

The proposed amendment in the law were tabled as a private members bill, by PML-N MNA Bilal Azhar Kiyani. The amendments suggested that an independent member cannot join any party three days after being notified.

“No independent member can join the second party after leaving the first party,” the amendment read.

In the amendments, it was also proposed that the parties that did not submit their priority lists will not be awarded reserved seats.

‘Govt intends to override SC decision’

Legal expert Abid Zuberi, commenting on the move, said that after the Supreme Court’s decision over reserved seats in favour of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council, the government intends to amend the law to override the court’s decision.

He said the amendment in the law will be for the future. “If the law flouts the constitution, it could be challenged in the court”, he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the bill was introduced aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision declaring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats.

A 13-member bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled that the PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, setting aside the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision denying the reserved seats to the SIC.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan opposed the majority decision.