Speaking at a Senate session, Senator Ali Zafar praised lawmakers of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — now home to PTI candidates — for walking out of yesterday’s Punjab Assembly session which elected Maryam Nawaz as chief minister.

“This is a token democracy,” he said, adding his hopes that others would support the protest.

He noted that, according to the law, reserved seats are given proportionately to political parties with elected candidates. He further said he was pleased with those opposition leaders who had openly stated they had no claim to reserved seats.

“PPP and PML-N are saying these seats belong to them, this is an undemocratic step. If a political party wants to steal these seats, or lay claim to it, this is illegal and a violation of our Constitution.”