ISLAMABAD: A significant change has taken place in the composition of the National Assembly (NA), following a letter from Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

According to the new party standings, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has effectively ceased to exist within the parliamentary body. All 80 former PTI members – previously under the category of “independent” candidates – have now been declared part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The National Assembly Secretariat has compiled and released an updated party position, reflecting changes in the political landscape.

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Previously, 39 of these members were recognised as still belonging to PTI, while 41 were declared independent. However, following amendments introduced under the new Election Act, the party position has undergone a significant revision. The SIC now holds 80 seats in the National Assembly.

The revised party position also accounts for seats withdrawn from major political parties such as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

Under the new composition, PML-N has 111 seats including Speaker, SIC has 80 seats, PPP has 69 seats, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has 22 seats, JUI-F has eight seats, Independents have eight seats, Pakistan Muslim League-Q has five seats, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) has four seats, and one seat each of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP), Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) and Pakistan Muslim League (Ziaul Haq Shaheed) (PML (Z).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024