ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is all set to announce its verdict in disqualification case against Senator Faisal Vawda.
ECP had reserved its verdict in the dual nationality case against PTI leader Faisal Vawda in December last year. During the hearing, the CEC had asked the petitioner and PPP leader Qadir Khan Mandokhel if he wanted to present more arguments or documents to the bench for support of the case.
The petitioner had argued that the Commission must decide the matter with no further delay, adding that Faisal Vawda had US citizenahip at the time of submission of nomination papers. In the last hearing the petitioner had said that Vawda had declared property in a foreign country and it was ECP’s job to inquire from the US Consulate about his citizenship.
The CEC responded that the American consulate was not answerable to the ECP, saying that ECP could not write to the US consulate. Meanwhile, Faisal Vawda’s lawyer argued that the petitioners were relying on the certificate of renunciation of citizenship.
He said that Faisal Vawda never gave up Pakistani citizenship, adding that Faisal Vawda had always been a Pakistani citizen. The lawyer argued that, according to Nadra, Faisal Vawda’s US citizenship was seized on May 29, 2018.
Faisal is a Pakistani citizen, he stated. The Commission, after hearing the arguments of the parties, had reserved its verdict on the petition against Faisal Vawda.
It must be noted that following report about the dual nationality of Faisal Vawda, a petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court seeking his disqualification. The court had directed the PTI leader to respond to the petition.
Due to his failure to respond to the petition, the IHC held him responsible for submitting a false affidavit regarding his nationality and directed the ECP to proceed against him under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution that deals with disqualification.
