Bill restricting independents from changing party not signed by president yet: sources

ISLAMABAD: The Elections Act (Amendment Bill) 2024, which aims to bar independent lawmakers from changing parties, has not yet been signed by President Asif Zardari, sources told Geo News on Thursday.

The president will sign the proposed bill into law after consulting legal experts, sources said.

They further stated that the Senate Secretariat will issue a gazette notification after receiving the signed bill.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has challenged the bill, which has retrospective amendments to the Elections Act 2017, in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the ruling allies and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have also moved the apex court against its July 12 verdict pertaining to the issue of assigning National Assembly reserved seats to the PTI — a matter that overlaps with the passing of the aforementioned bill.

Tabled by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani last month, the legislation sailed through the NA as well as the Senate amid stern resistance from the opposition benches.

The move drew a strong reaction from the PTI, as once it comes into effect following the president's assent, it would "reverse" the Imran Khan-founded party's resurrection in the assemblies as it provisions a prohibition on independent candidates from changing party affiliations at a later stage from the one mentioned in their affidavits initially.

Last month, the SC had declared PTI eligible for reserved seats after which the Election Commission of Pakistan notified as many as 93 lawmakers from three provincial legislatures as PTI members.

Meanwhile, 39 lawmakers in the NA, who had shown their affiliation with the PTI in their nomination papers, have also been declared by the ECP as PTI members.

Proposed amendments to bill

The bill, which provisions retrospective effect and will apply from the commencement of the Elections Act 2017, proposes an amendment to Section 66 of the said legislation.

It says that if a candidate does not submit a declaration of his affiliation with a political party to the returning officer (RO) before seeking allotment of the election symbol, they shall be "deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party".

Whereas, the amendment to Section 104 says that if a political party fails to submit its list for reserved seats within the prescribed time period, it will not be eligible for reserved seats at any later stage.

Additionally, it also adds a new provision to the original legislation titled Section 104A which declares the consent or affidavit of an independent candidate regarding joining a political party "irrevocable" and prohibits its withdrawal and substitution.