PTI banks on ‘independent’ MNAs’ loyalty after SC verdict

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling on reserved seats has brought into the spotlight 41 MNAs who ran as independents in the Feb 8 general election, the beleaguered PTI maintains that these individuals are steadfast party loyalists, not open to temptation or enticement.

The full court’s judgement has reinvigorated PTI’s ranks and given independent candidates an opportunity to officially join the party line and strengthen the party’s footprint, both in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

“None of these 41 MNAs will desert the party in this hour of need,” PTI’s Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan told Dawn.

He said the party had already chalked out a well-concerted strategy to keep these members within the party fold so that no one dares make them “turncoats” by changing their loyalties.

Raoof confident none of the 41 MNAs will abandon party at crucial time

It is a typical spectacle repeated after each election in the country that the independent candidates become a commodity, up for grabs for political parties seeking to expand their ranks after elections. However, PTI is keeping its retention strategy under wraps to avoid giving opponents a chance to counter it.

The Supreme Court’s majority judgement, authored by senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and supported by seven other judges, holds that in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the general election, the 41 returned candidates out of the 80 MNAs must file duly signed and notorised statements within 15 working days stating that they contested the polls as a candidate of the political party concerned.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will then notify the concerned party within seven days, and the party must confirm the candidacies within 15 days. Upon confirmation, these seats will be officially recognised as belonging to the party under Article 51(5) of the Constitution. The ECP will publish the list of returned candidates on its website within seven days.

When asked if these MNAs will file their statements showing party affiliation separately or collectively, Raoof Hasan explained that the party was in consultation with legal experts to come out with a plan of action within a few days.

Accordingly, the members will approach the ECP showing their affiliation with the PTI, he said, adding that “the strategy will be worked out pretty soon since we still have 15 days”.

He said these members had contested the elections as independent candidates for fear that their nomination papers might not be received or accepted by the returning officers (ROs) in different constituencies to contest the elections.

A senior counsel, speaking on condition of anonymity, highlighted two primary reasons for this approach: the ECP’s Dec 22, 2023, deadline for nomination forms, which was later extended, and the uncertainty over securing PTI tickets.

Many seasoned party members filed complete documents, including party affiliation certificates, with their nomination papers. However, others left the party affiliation column blank, opting to run as independents to avoid potential disqualification.

The Supreme Court ruling identified 39 out of the 80 independent candidates as PTI members, with the remaining 41 needing to complete the necessary formalities to join the party officially.

The list of 41 independent candidates revealed that 11 of them belong to different constituencies of Khyber Pakht­un­khwa, including Abdul Latif from the NA-1 constituency, Sahibzada Sibghatullah (NA-5), Muhammad Nawaz Khan (NA-13), Muhammad Atif (NA-22), Ali Muhammad (NA-23), Sajid Khan (NA-26), Muhammad Iqbal Khan (NA-27), Zulfiqar Ali (NA-34), Shehryar Afridi (NA-35), Yousaf Khan (NA-36), and Zubair Khan (NA-42).

The rest of the 30 candidates are from Punjab, namely Mohammad Ahmed Chatha (NA-66), Aniqa Mehdi (NA-67), Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Choudhry (NA-68), Muhammad Mobeen Arif (NA-78), Ihsanullah Virk (NA-79), Chau­dhry Bilal Ejaz (NA-181), Muhammad Miqdad Ali Khan (NA-86), Muhammad Jamal

Ahsan Khan (NA-89), Umair Khan Niazi (NA-90), Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel (NA-91), Ghulam Muhammad (NA-93), Muhammad Saad Ullah (NA-97), Umar Farooq (NA-99), Usama Hamza (NA-105), Mohammad Riaz Khan (NA-107), Muhammad Mahboob Sultan (NA-108), Waqas Akram (NA-109), Muhammad Ameer Sultan (NA-110), Muh­a­mmad Arshad Sahi (NA-111), Khurram Munawar Mang (NA-116), Mian Muhammad Azhar (NA-129), Azimuddin Zahid (NA-133), Syed Raza Ali Gillani (NA-137), Ayesha Nazir (NA-156), Mian Ghous Muhammad (NA-170), Javaid Iqbal (NA-172), Jamshaid Ahmad (NA-175), Muhammad Moazzam Ali Khan (NA-177), Fiaz Hussain (NA-180), and Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood (NA-183).

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2024