The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided on Monday to settle the matter of the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) through an open hearing, Aaj News reported.

The issue of reserved seats will be discussed by the ECP’s five-member bench on Tuesday. It is pertinent to note that SIC is still not in possession of the reserved assembly seats.

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Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja will lead the bench, which consists of the four ECP members.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced last week that its party-backed independents who have won seats in National, KP, and Punjab assemblies would join the Sunni Ittehad Council as a party.

The recent election saw PTI-backed candidates taking part independently due to the Supreme Court’s decision to strip the party of its election symbol ‘bat’.

Despite running as independents, the elected representatives were mandated by the Election Act, 2017 to join a political party within three days of the notification.