Punjab MPAs take oath on reserved seats

Amid ruckus by PTI-backed SIC
Lahore
At least 21 women and three members of minority communities Friday took their oath as Members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) on reserved seats, as the provincial assembly’s session was marred by the ruckus created by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council lawmakers.
The oath to the newly inducted lawmakers on the reserved seats was administered by the Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan.
The oath-taking ceremony was carried out amid noise and chaos in the provincial legislature by the Opposition members who chanted slogans all along as the lawmakers swore in.
“These seats were our right, which was taken away from us and given to other parties,” the Opposition members said while standing before the speaker’s dice and chanting slogans.
Since the conduct of the February 8 general elections, the PTI-backed SIC members have been demanding their right to the reserved seats in the National and Punjab assemblies, alleging that their mandate was stolen following the polls in the province and other parts of the country.
A day earlier, the SIC Chairman Hamid Raza moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to claim the party’s right to reserved seats in the NA, stating that the electoral authority is neither a tribunal nor a court.
The plea further requested that the SIC must get the reserved seats as per the proportion of seats in the Punjab Assembly.
However, the registrar’s office of the LHC raised objections to their petition pertaining to the court’s jurisdiction in hearing the case.
“Objections related to jurisdiction will be dealt with on the judicial side,” said LHC judge Abid Aziz.