ISLAMABAD – The election commission Tuesday denotified national assembly membership of outgoing prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and pronounced him ineligible for contesting parliamentary polls for five years, following the Supreme Court order.
The official notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) read that as a consequence of Gilani’s disqualification as parliament member by the SC, the ECP notifies him disqualified as an MNA with effect from 26-4-2012 and, also, the notification (number F.2(4)/2008, dated March 1, 2008) declaring him as returned candidate from NA-151 Multan-IV stands rescinded.
The notification followed commission’s top-level meeting, chaired by the ECP acting commissioner Justice Shakirullah Jan and attended by three of the total four Members Election Commission (MECs), to unanimously proceed in the light of the apex court’s Tuesday ruling. Justice (r) Riaz Kiyani, Justice (r) Shahzad Akbar Khan and Justice (r) Fazalur Rehman attended the meeting while Justice (r) Roshan Essani is on leave.
Gilani is the second politician from the ruling PPP to have faced disqualification in less than four months. Earlier in March, the commission disqualified and slapped a two-year ban on Waheeda Shah.