Faisal Vawda reinstated as a senator, ECP withdraws notification

ISLAMABAD, Dec 08 (NNI): The Election Commission of Pakistan has withdrawn a notification disqualifying Faisal Vawda as a lawmaker.
The Election Commission withdrew the notification in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified PTI Senator Faisal Vawda as a lawmaker over the 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 in 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 annulled, according to the short order announced by the chief election commissioner.
However, the Supreme Court a couple issued a four-page order ruling a couple of days ago that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has no jurisdiction under the Constitution to decide the pre-election disqualification of a lawmaker. The top court nullified the verdicts of the ECP and high court in a case relating to the disqualification of former PTI senator Faisal Vawda.
The order recalled that Faisal Vawda informed the bench that he had received a citizenship renunciation certificate from the US authorities on June 25, 2018, and he had admitted his mistake .