ISLAMABAD: Following the Supreme Court’s (SC) revocation of his lifetime ban, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reinstated former federal minister Faisal Vawda as a senator.
Following the SC ruling, the ECP retracted its earlier notification that the seat held by Faisal Vawda in Sindh was vacant. Nisar Ahmad Khuhro of the PPP was chosen to fill the same Senate seat in March of this year. However, the ECP has withdrawn their announcement of Nisar Khuhro’s victory from March 15, 2022.
In a dual nationality case, Vawda was disqualified by the ECP in February of this year. On a PTI ticket, the former PTI leader had been chosen as a member of Parliament’s upper chamber in March 2021.
Faisal Vawda will resign in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, nevertheless, and a new election will be held by the commission to fill the vacant seat.
Vawda’s basic PTI membership had been cancelled in October for allegedly breaking the party policy.The Supreme Court declared last month that the ECP lacks constitutional authority to decide whether to disqualify a lawmaker before an election.
The top court declared in its four-page brief judgement that “ECP has no jurisdiction […] to enquire into and decide upon the question of pre-election disqualification and disqualification of a returned candidate” in order to invalidate the judgments of the ECP and the high court.
