A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court challenging the Election Bill 2017, which sailed through the National Assembly and Senate paving the way for Nawaz Sharif to promptly become president of the ruling PML-N.
According to Dawn News, Advocate Zulfiqar Bhutta has submitted the application under Article 184/3 of the Constitution terming the amendments “against the basic spirit of the Constitution”.
“A party leader controls voting in the National Assembly, as Article 63A of the Constitution states that an MNA can be disqualified if he or she votes against the official party line,” the petition states.
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He expressed concerns that disqualified persons would have powers to run the business of the parliament under the new bill, which can be caused of adverse consequences.
The petitioner has pleaded the apex to declare the bill null and void.
On Monday, the National Assembly passed the Elections Bill 2017 amid protest by the opposition members.
Subsequently, the bill came into force, empowering disqualified politicians to head political parties.
A day after the approval of the Election Bill, Nawaz Sharif was on Tuesday re-elected unopposed as president of his party.
Earlier, it was in the Constitution that disqualified lawmaker could not hold any public or party office but the ruling party introduced an amendment in the Election Bill 2017 following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court in Panamagate case.
The amendment allows any disqualified legislator to hold party office.
