President Asif Zardari has officially approved the Elections Act (Amendment Bill) 2024, which prevents independent lawmakers from changing their political party affiliation after being elected. This development was confirmed by sources on Thursday, who informed Geo News that the bill has now been forwarded to the Senate Secretariat for a gazette notification.
The approval of this bill follows a challenge by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has taken the issue to the Supreme Court. The PTI is opposing the bill due to its retroactive changes to the Elections Act of 2017.
At the same time, the ruling political parties and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have also approached the Supreme Court to challenge a ruling made on July 12. This ruling involved the allocation of reserved seats in the National Assembly to PTI, which is connected to the new bill.
The bill was originally proposed by Bilal Azhar Kiyani, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). It was passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate, despite strong opposition.
The PTI has expressed significant concern over the bill, as it could undermine the party’s recent efforts to re-establish its presence in the assemblies. Once the bill becomes law, independent candidates will be prohibited from switching their political party affiliation after initially declaring it.
Last month, the Supreme Court had ruled that PTI was eligible for reserved seats, leading the Election Commission to officially recognize 93 lawmakers from three provincial assemblies as PTI members. In addition, 39 National Assembly members who had previously declared their affiliation with PTI in their nomination papers were also confirmed by the ECP as PTI members.
What Changes Does the Bill Propose?
The amendment to the Elections Act 2017 includes several key changes:
1. Section 66 Amendment: If a candidate does not declare their affiliation with a political party to the returning officer before requesting an election symbol, they will be considered an independent candidate.
2. Section 104 Amendment: If a political party fails to submit its list for reserved seats within the specified time, it will lose eligibility for those seats.
3. New Section 104A: This new section makes the decision of an independent candidate to join a political party final and unchangeable. They will not be allowed to withdraw or alter their decision later.
These changes aim to ensure that independent candidates remain consistent with their party affiliations, potentially impacting the political landscape in Pakistan.
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