Party dynamics in Pakistan’s National Assembly have recently shifted following a letter from Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq addressed to the Election Commission of Pakistan. This letter initiated significant changes in party affiliations among members.
According to the National Assembly Secretariat’s announcement, 80 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who had been classified as ‘Independent’ candidates, are now officially associated with the Sunni Ittehad Council. This update, which was made public on September 18, also clarifies the current seat distribution among various political parties.
On the government side, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leads with 110 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 69 seats, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) holding 22 seats. Smaller parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Muslim League-Zia have five and one seats, respectively, while both the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the National Party have secured one seat each.
In the opposition, the Sunni Ittehad Council now comprises 80 members, along with eight from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and eight independent members who are aligned with PTI. Additionally, there is one representative each from the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM).
Currently, there are 213 members on the government benches, excluding 20 reserved seats, while the opposition has 80 members from the Sunni Ittehad Council, as well as representation from smaller parties. It’s noteworthy that one independent member from the opposition has recently joined PML-N.
In his earlier communication to the Election Commission, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq requested that the allocation of reserved seats adhere to the Election Act. The letter stipulated that any parliament member who did not submit a party certificate with their nomination would be classified as an independent candidate. It also specified that independent members who subsequently joined a party could not change their affiliation.
As for the reserved seats, the National Assembly Secretariat has allocated 15 to PML-N, five to PPP, and five to JUI-F. However, these reserved seats are not included in the official tally. The total membership of the National Assembly currently stands at 313, excluding the 23 reserved seats. Once these vacant and disputed seats are assigned to PTI, the total membership in the assembly is expected to rise to 336.
