The PTI announced its decision on Monday to ally with the Sunni Ittehad Council under which the party candidates would join the religio-political party in the national and provincial assemblies to secure reserved seats.
“We have decided that in the national and provincial assembly will hopefully join the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC),” PTI leader Gohar Khan said at a press conference flanked by Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Chairman Allama Raja Nasir and SIC Chairman Mohammad Hamid Raza.
The decision comes as the Election Commission of Pakistan issued three notifications over the last three days for the candidates who won elections.
To secure reserved seats and form a government, it was mandatory for candidates backed by Imran Khan’s party to join a political party. A solid strength would also help the party in having the required legislation passed from the House.
“Our candidates yesterday submitted their affidavits to us and I today with their consent and with their thanks we announce that the PTI backed independent candidates will join the Sunni Ittehad Council in the assembly,” Gohar said.
He defended the decision by saying that reserved seats are allotted to political parties.
There are 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and 210 seats in the whole country which are only allotted to the political party.
Gohar added that the PTI has also signed a formal agreement with the SIC and joined the party. The document would be submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan on Monday.
The PTI claims that independent candidates backed by them have won 180 National Assembly seats, but provisional election results show that they are victorious on over 90 seats.
The country’s top electoral authority has so far issued three notifications: on February 16, February 17, and February 18.
Any independent candidate has to join a political party within three days after the issuance of notification.
MWM Chairman Allama Raja Nasir stated that if people would cross their domains then there would be problems.
He added that normally elections were held to get the country out of crisis, but here elections were allegedly bulldozed. He was of the view that those who do power politics cannot understand it.
