In a notification issued to the National Assembly (NA) secretariat, the ECP sent a list of independent returned candidates in the NA along with their party affiliation and party position.

According to the notification, 82 independent Members of the National Assembly (MNAs), 49 from Punjab and 33 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), joined the SIC.

With the ECP’s acceptance of PTI’s merger with the SIC, the SIC has emerged as the second largest party in the lower house, falling behind Pakistan Muslim Legue-N (PML-N) which has 120 seats.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has 71 seats, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) 21, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) 11, and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-N) has five seats.

The number of independent candidates in the NA is now seven while there are several parties who have one NA seat each.

It is pertinent to note that the NA secretariat had asked the ECP for the latest party position.