In major victory for Imran Khan, EC notifies 93 members as PTI lawmakers

In a major resurrection for former premier Imran Khan and his embattled party the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP notified the 93 lawmakers in Punjab Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh assemblies as returned candidates of the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI in line with the Supreme Courts order in the case of the reserved seat Geo News reportedThe development which makes Imran Khanfounded PTI the largest party in the national assembly came days after the election watchdog declared 39 PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly as the candidates affiliated with the PTIThese members 93 from the provincial assemblies and 39 from the National Assembly had shown their affiliation with the party in their documents submitted to the election commission ahead of the general electionsEarlier on Monday the ECP uploaded the notification on its website according to which 29 PTI lawmakers from the Punjab assembly 58 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly and six members of provincial assemblies from Sindh have been declared as PTI membersOn July 25 the polls regulator sought the apex courts guidance on legal and constitutional aspects regarding the issue of the PTI lawmakers in the national and provincial assembliesThe ECP in its civil miscellaneous application argued that it was facing difficulty in implementing the top courts ruling in the reserved seats as the PTI at the moment has no organisational structure for confirmation of the statements of MNAs and MPAs purportedly belong to PTI as reported by Geo NewsBut in a major victory for Khan and his party the Pakistan SC in its landmark ruling on July 12 declared the former ruling party eligible for reserved seats of women and minorities in the national and provincial assembliesThese PTI members contested the February 8 elections as independent candidates and later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council SIC on the partys instruction in a bid to receive reserved seats as independents are not allowed under law to get reserved seatsAhead of the February 8 polls the top court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistans ECP decision to deprive the party of its iconic bat symbol leaving the PTI without the status of a political partyAfter winning the most seats in the elections earlier this year the PTI was denied reserved seats by the ECP and this decision was also upheld by the Peshawar High Court PHC citing that the party could not submit the list of its candidates for reserved seats in the stipulated timeDismissing the ECPs verdict the apex court ruled on July 12 that PTI was and is a political party that won general seats in the national and provincial assemblies in the February 8 elections and thus is entitled to reserved seatsAmid the possibility of the PTI becoming the largest party in the assemblies after getting the reserved seats following the SCs order the ruling coalition partners Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz PMLN and the Pakistan Peoples Party PPP even filed a review petition in the apex court against the reserved seats verdict Geo News reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever