News Desk |
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued on Monday a notice to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s vice president Maryam Nawaz on a petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenging her party position. ECP while hearing PTI’s petition has issued notice to Maryam for June 17. On Monday, the ECP conducted the first formal hearing of the case after admitting the petition for hearing.
PTI members Farrukh Habib, Javeria Zafar, Maleeka Bokhari, and Kanwal Shauzab had submitted a petition before ECP against Maryam’s party position in line with PTI leadership’s earlier reservations against her appointment.
In the petition, the applicants have stated that Maryam’s selection as the PML-N vice president was in contradiction with laws and the constitution. The petitioners have maintained that the Maryam was not eligible to hold any political or public office as an accountability court has convicted her in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference.
Malik’s petition states that Shauzab lives in Islamabad but she provided the ECP with incorrect information regarding her permanent residence when she contested the Senate elections.
On May 6, PTI had decided to challenge the PML-N’s decision to appoint Maryam as one of the party’s 16 vice presidents. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had told media that PTI was preparing to challenge the PML-N’s move to ‘grant a party post to a convicted person’, adding that the ruling party was exploring different options.
“We have the option to take this up in the Parliament, the Election Commission of Pakistan, or the country’s courts,” he had said. “She [Maryam] has been convicted by the country’s courts and is not eligible to hold a party position. She has been granted temporary relief by the court; her conviction has not been reversed,” Qureshi had maintained. Later, the PTI officials had filed a petition before the ECP.
In a major reshuffle of the party on April 29, Maryam had become a vice president of the PML-N. For the first time, Sharif’s daughter and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz were appointed as vice presidents of the party, among several others.
Read more: ECP to hear PTI’s petition against Maryam’s party position on May…
Among other changes, former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was appointed senior vice president of the PML-N, ex-interior minister Ahsan Iqbal was made general secretary, ex-finance minister Ishaq Dar was tasked to take over responsibilities as president of the party’s International Affairs Committee while Marriyum Aurangzeb retained the position of secretary information and the party’s spokesperson.
PML-N Seeks Disqualification of Maleeka Bokhari, Kanwal Shauzab
On the other hand, PML-N MNAs Shaista Pervaiz Malik and Tahira Bukhari have challenged PTI’s Maleeka Bokhari and Kanwal Shauzab positions before the Islamabad High Court seeking disqualification under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution from holding public office.
Malik’s petition states that Shauzab lives in Islamabad but she provided the ECP with incorrect information regarding her permanent residence when she contested the Senate elections. In her petition, Bukhari said that Maleeka Bokhari has claimed to have rescinded her British citizenship but held dual nationality when she filed her nomination papers.
After being convicted in the London properties reference by the accountability court, the IHC suspended the sentence until the final decision on the appeals against the judgment.
She also claimed that it was likely that Bokhari would resume her British nationality, which violates a recent Supreme Court judgment on dual nationality. The petitioners have requested the court to disqualify the PTI officials under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
Sharifs Convicted in Avenfield Reference
In the judgment on the Avenfield Apartments reference, the accountability court had sentenced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, his daughter Maryam to seven years rigorous imprisonment and son-in-law, Captain (Retd) Muhammad Safdar, to one-year rigorous imprisonment.
The accused were also disqualified to contest election or to hold public office for a period of 10 years to be reckoned from the date they are released after serving the sentence and they shall not be allowed to apply for or to be granted or allowed any financial facilities in the form of a loan for a period of 10 years from the date of their conviction within the meaning of section 15 of NAO 1999.
Read more: PML-N reshuffle: Maryam Nawaz becomes vice president
After being convicted in the London properties reference by the accountability court, the IHC suspended the sentence until the final decision on the appeals against the judgment.