The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday disqualified PTI Senator Faisal Vawda as a lawmaker over concealment of his dual nationality at the time of contesting the National Assembly election on a Karachi seat in the 2018 general elections.
The ECP also directed Vawda to return within two months the salary and other benefits he had received as a minister and parliamentarian. 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, 2021, as a member of the National Assembly was also “invalid”, according to the short order announced by the chief election commissioner.
In the written order, the commission observed that a person holding a nationality or citizenship of another country was required to obtain a declaration form from the country in question regarding the renunciation of his nationality to qualify as a citizen of Pakistan.
That his party and the prime minister, who had hailed the Supreme Court decision leading to the exit of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif under the same clause, helped the PTI loyalist avoid punishment by electing him to the Upper House is deplorable. Clearly, they had not thought that their actions could harm their public image when the opposition parties started flexing their muscles against the government.
That said, it must be emphasised that Mr Vawda’s disqualification from contesting polls for life — as in the case of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and estranged PTI leader Jehangir Khan Tareen — for violating a law pertaining to parliamentarians’ and civil servants’ moral standards, and that bars their election to parliament unless they are ‘sadiq’ (truthful)’ and ‘ameen’ (trustworthy), is a bit harsh.
Mr Vawda resigned from his National Assembly seat early last year when it became clear to him and his party that the Islamabad High Court would disqualify him for submitting a false affidavit to the election authorities regarding his American citizenship.
He thought that he could avoid disqualification by quitting the National Assembly and shifting to the Senate.
His lawyers argued before the court that a dual nationality case against him was not valid after his election as senator. The court did not agree, however, and directed the ECP to proceed against the PTI leader under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution that sets out the moral qualifications of public representatives.
The ECP has also allowed Mr Vawda to move the Supreme Court against its decision, an opportunity that we expect him to avail. The SCBA plea provides an opportunity for not only a legal debate on the subject but also a larger one about the demands of democracy itself.
