ECP to hold open hearing on woman MNA’s seat issue

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan decided Tuesday to conduct an open hearing regarding the unique case involving the allocation of a women’s reserved MNA seat to Sadaf Ihsan, who has been disavowed by the relevant religio-political party.

In a statement issued, the election commission announced that the JUI-Fazl has filed a petition contesting that Sadaf Ihsan is not its candidate for the MNA reserved seat but rather Sadaf Yasmin is their nominee.

However, Sadaf Yasmin did not submit any nomination papers to the election commission.

As a result, notices have been sent to all parties concerned to resolve the dispute, and an open hearing has been scheduled to facilitate resolution.

Additionally, the commission has initiated an inquiry into the incident to uncover the facts. Furthermore, the relevant returning officer has been suspended pending investigation. The commission observed that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam had submitted a list to the returning officer for the reserved women’s seats, which included the name Sadaf Yasmin. However, the woman who submitted the nomination papers is Sadaf Ihsan, a resident of Lakki Marwat. JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has urged the election commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, as the MNA elected on the reserved seat does not belong to his party and her name was not on the priority list.