Pakistan polls: PTI-backed independent candidates to join Sunni Ittehad Council

Islamabad: Reversing its earlier decision, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday said that the party-backed independent candidates, who won the February 8 elections, will join the rightwing Sunni Ittehad Council.

The party had earlier decided that its members elected to the National Assembly and the Punjab provincial assembly would join Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), a Shia party, while those elected in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) would become part of Jamaati-e-Islami (JI), which is a hardline Sunni religious party.

The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is an alliance of Islamic political and religious parties in the Muslim-majority country which represents followers of the school of Sunni Islam.

“Our candidates in the National Assembly, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies will

join the Sunni Ittehad Council,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said while addressing a press conference along with leaders of the MWM and SIC.

PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, Information Secretary Rauf Hasan and MWM chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Chairman of SIC Sahibzada Hamid Raza were present.

“Our candidates have submitted their affidavits with us and with their consent today we are announcing that PTI-supported independents are joining the Sunni Ittehad Council,” he added.

The winning independent candidates had to join a party within 3 days after the notification of the results of the February 8 elections.

Gohar also said the PTI made a “formal agreement” with the Sunni Ittehad Council and the same would be submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with a request to allocate the reserved seats according to the party strength and under law.

“Therefore, to protect our reserved seats and provide the cover to our members, we have reached a formal agreement under which all our candidates have joined the party and we will present this documentation before the ECP,” he said.

PTI candidate for the prime minister’s post, Omer Ayub Khan, said on the occasion that the decision to join a political party was taken to get the reserved seats.

“This is because the quota of reserved seats lies with political parties.

Coming together with the Sunni Ittehad Council would increase the PTI’s strength in the National Assembly,” he said, adding the party would form a government in the centre and two provinces.

He said the priority of the party was to secure the release of incarcerated leaders like Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi and others. SIC chief Raza and MWM leader Abbas in their remarks pledged

support to the PTI.