News Desk |
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that there was no restriction in the constitution and the election act barring a convicted individual from holding a party post.
In a written reply to ECP, the PML-N’s leader said that “there was a clause in Political Parties Order 2002, according to which a sentenced man cannot hold a party position. The parliament had abolished this clause in Election Act 2017.”
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 reply further stated that “such laws were made during dictatorships to bar the nomination of the public representatives”. Also, Maryam through her counsel has stated that the petitioners have no locus standi to file the petition as they are not an aggrieved party. She said that the petition has been filed with mala fide and ulterior motives and not to further the ends of justice or democracy, hence, not maintainable.
Read more: No rift with uncle Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N stands united: Maryam Nawaz
She has prayed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) petition may be dismissed with costs. A three-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza has been hearing the petition.
PTI challenges Maryam’s party position before ECP
On May 27, the ECP had issued a notice to PML-N’s vice president Maryam Nawaz on a petition of the PTI challenging her party position. ECP while hearing PTI’s petition had issued a notice to Maryam for June 17.
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.
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 NAB reference.
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 NAB reference.
Read more: Maryam Nawaz slams government, ignores some hard facts
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.
“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.