The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday officially informed the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat that Sunni Alliance Council (SIC) is the second largest party in National Assembly. As per details, ECP officially notified the National Assembly Secretariat regarding the party positions in NA. According to the ECP report, Sunni Alliance Council (SIC) has total 82 members including 49 from Punjab and 33 independent candidates after PTI-backed candidate joined the SIC, making it the second-l argest party in the National Assembly. Sunni Ittehad Council with 82 members (including 49 from Punjab and 33 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), PPP 71, MQM 21, JUI 11, PML-Q 5, IPP 4 and MWM, PKMAP, BNP,

PMAP, BAP PML-Z each have one member. The Election Commission has clarified that no specific seats have been allocated to the Sunni Ittehad Council. The National Assembly Secretariat had requested the Election Commission to provide an updated party position, which has now been notified. The development came after the NA Secretariat earlier announced that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent members of National Assembly (NA) cannot be considered lawmakers belonging to the Sunni Alliance Council (SIC) yet. According to the details, the NA Secretariat said that it has not been conveyed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) about independent MNAs joining the SIC. “The PTI-backed lawmakers would be considered independents until the National Assembly Secretariat receives the party affiliation notification from

the ECP,” the secretariat said in a statement. On February 18, the PTI, whose candidates contested the February 8 general elections ‘independently’, decided to form an alliance with the SIC. Previously, the PTI had also announced to form a coalition in Centre and Punjab with the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) but the move faced backlash by some party members.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)