ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTi) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday hinted at once again outnumbering the ‘turncoats’ in the national assembly by making new nominations for the seats reserved for women and minorities in the lower house of the Parliament. at present, the national assembly consists of 342 members of which 60 seats were reserved for women. Similarly, 10 seats were reserved for minorities. Talking to a private TV channel, Fawad said that his party had another card to play after the speaker national assembly kicked out all of its members from the national assembly by accepting their resignations except the dissidents. “We are going to make new nominations for the seats reserved for women and minorities… by that way, we will be able to send even 34 new members to the national assembly who would be enough to outnumber 20 turncoats,” he said and added the option of the President asking the prime minister for a vote of confidence was still very much there.
Persons are elected on the seats reserved for women for a province in accordance with law through a proportional representation system of political parties’ lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party from the Province concerned in the national assembly. The total number of general seats won by a political party also includes the independent returned candidates who duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates.
Members to the seats reserved for non-muslims are also elected through a proportional representation system of political parties’ lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats won by each political party in the national assembly. national assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz ashraf accepted resignations of remaining 43 PTi lawmakers a day after they withdrew. ashraf accepted further resignations and forwarded them to the ECP. according to the PTi, the purpose of PTi members going back to the assembly was to oust Raja Riaz from the position of the opposition leader.
