Recent changes in party positions within Pakistan’s National Assembly have emerged after Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq sent a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The reshuffle, announced by the National Assembly Secretariat, now lists 80 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), previously categorized as ‘Independent’ candidates, under the Sunni Ittehad Council.
The updated party positions, released on September 18, detail the distribution of seats among various parties. On the government benches, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) holds 110 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 69 seats and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) with 22. Smaller parties, including PML-Q and Muslim League-Zia, have five and one seats, respectively, while the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and National Party each hold one seat.
The opposition benches now comprise 80 members of the Sunni Ittehad Council, along with eight members from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and eight independent members aligned with PTI. Additional representation comes from the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), each holding one seat.
Currently, there are 213 members on the government benches, excluding 20 reserved seats, while the opposition counts 80 members from the Sunni Ittehad Council, plus one from smaller parties. Recently, one independent member from the opposition joined the PML-N.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s letter to the Election Commission requested the allocation of reserved seats according to the Election Act, clarifying that any parliament member who did not submit a party certificate with their nomination papers would be deemed an independent candidate. Additionally, independent members who join a political party are barred from switching affiliations.
The National Assembly Secretariat indicated that the PML-N has been allocated 15 reserved seats, while the PPP and JUI-F received five each. These reserved seats are not included in the official count. The total membership in the National Assembly currently stands at 313, excluding 23 reserved seats. Once the vacant and disputed seats are awarded to PTI, the assembly’s total membership will rise to 336.