Islamabad: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), has filed a formal request for an investigation into a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding an “unknown” woman on the party’s reserved seat in the National Assembly (NA).
The ECP’s notification, labeled F6 of 2024, announced the success of an unidentified woman on the NA reserved seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prompting Fazlur Rehman to take action. In response, he submitted a request to the electoral authority, urging the suspension of the notification and a thorough investigation into the matter.
In his request, Fazlur Rehman emphasized that Sadaf Sultan, the woman named in the notification, is neither affiliated with the JUI-F party nor listed among its members. He advocated for the suspension of Sadaf Ehsan’s notification and urged the appointment of Ms. Hina Bibi to the reserved seat instead.
The JUI-F chief questioned whether the notification for Sadaf Sultan was issued mistakenly or if there was a deliberate conspiracy behind the matter, raising concerns about the transparency and accuracy of the electoral process.
Last week, the ECP allocated reserved seats in the NA and all four provincial assemblies, distributing them among various parties. However, the electoral watchdog ruled against allocating reserved seats to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
According to an ECP notification, eight women reserved seats in the NA from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were allocated to members of different political parties, including JUI-F’s Sadaf Ehsan, despite objections raised by Maulana Fazlur Rehman regarding the appointment of an “unknown” woman to the seat.
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