ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Vawda in a case related to concealing dual nationality while contesting the 2018 general elections.
An ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the ruling reserved. Vawda has also been instructed to return all salaries and perks he received during his tenure as a parliamentarian within the next two months.
It also withdrew the notification declaring Vawda’s victory on a Senate seat in polls held last year. The vote Vawda had cast in the Senate polls held on March 10 as a member of the National Assembly was also declared “invalid”. The ECP said Vawda had submitted a “false affidavit” when submitting nomination papers.
Earlier on December 23 last year, the ECP had reserved its judgment on a petition seeking disqualification of Vawda for concealing his dual nationality at the time of filing his election nomination papers.
During the last hearing, the complainant. PPP MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel, and Faisal Vawda had appeared before an ECP bench. CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja had asked Mandokhail whether he wanted to present more documents or give additional arguments.
The petitions argued that Vawda was a dual national at the time of filing his nomination papers to contest the 2018 general election. Vawda submitted his nomination papers on June 11, 2018 and applied for renunciation of his US nationality afterwards. Qadir Khan Mandokhel, Mian Faisal and Mian Asif Mehmood subsequently filed petitions with the ECP seeking Vawda’s disqualification.
During the last hearing, Barrister Moeed, the counsel for Mr Vawda, had submitted the senator’s birth certificate to the ECP, stating that his client was born in California and was a US citizen by birth.
Mandokhel had said it was the 30th hearing of the case but he could not get the answers to his questions. The PPP leader had said ECP has been issuing warnings for the last one-and-a-half years.
Mandokhel opined that Faisal Vawda had held US nationality at the time of filing his election nomination papers. He had said that the concerned Returning Officer was not punished as he had rejected his papers instead of disqualifying Vawda.
The PPP leader had said that Vawda had falsely declared in an oath to the ECP that he did not hold any foreign nationality. The PTI leader had concealed his dual nationality during the scrutiny of his nomination papers, said Mandokhel.
Vawda’s counsel rejected the allegations, saying that his client never applied for another country’s nationality. As per the NADRA’s record, Vawda’s US citizenship had been seized on May 29, 2018, his counsel said. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the ECP had reserved its verdict in Vawda’s disqualification case.
