ISLAMABAD – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Vawda over submission of a false affidavit.
Reports in local media said a three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja announced the reserved verdict in a case pertaining to the disqualification of the ruling party leader.
ECP earlier reserved the verdict on applications seeking disqualification of Vawda for allegedly concealing the information about his dual nationality.
A petition filed by Qadir Khan Mandokhel, Mian Faisal, and Mian Asif Mehmood under section Article 62(i)(f) seeking disqualification of Vawda over alleged concealment of his dual nationality at the time of contesting the National Assembly election on a Karachi seat in the 2018 general elections.
The law deems it necessary for all members of Parliament to be ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’. They are prohibited from concealing information about their assets.
The petitions stated that Vawda was a dual national at the time of filing his nomination papers to contest the last general polls. He submitted his nomination papers to the ECP on June 11, 2018 and had allegedly applied for renunciation of his US nationality days after that.
The ECP judgment comes at a time when the opposition parties are gearing up for a decisive move against the present set-up under the PTI, both inside and outside parliament.
Earlier, a report claimed that the PTI Sindh chapter leader filed his nomination papers for the last general polls on June 11, 2018, when he still held nationality of the United States. Vawda’s papers were approved on June 18, 2018.
However, he filed papers to give up his US citizenship on June 22, 2018, and he was issued a certificate on June 25. 2019.
Faisal Vawda submitted false affidavit in dual nationality case, rules IHC
As per the law, a person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of Parliament if he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan or acquires the citizenship of a foreign state.
