ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday notified the victory of newly elected senators to the Upper House of the Parliament following the March 03 Senate polls.
Election for chairman and deputy chairman of Senate will be held tomorrow (Friday). "In pursuance of Section 124 of the Elections Act, 2017, and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Election Commission hereby publishes the names of the following candidates returned to the Senate of Pakistan [...] in place of the members whose terms will expire on 11th March, 2021 under clause (3) of Article 59 of the Constitution," read the separate notifications, which then went on to list candidates that had won across the various seat categories in Islamabad, as well as in each of the four provinces.
In all, 48 senators have been elected to replace outgoing lawmakers. From Islamabad, two senators were elected — PPP's Yusuf Raza Gilani to the general seat and PTI's Fawzia's Arshad to the women's seat.
From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 senators were notified — seven senators were appointed to general seats, two to technocrat seats including Ulema, two to seats for women and one to the seat reserved for non-Muslims.
From Punjab, 11 senators were inducted to the Upper House — seven to general seats, two to technocrat seats including Ulema, and two to women seats.
From Balochistan, 12 senators have been notified — seven to general seats, two to technocrats including Ulema, two to women seats and one to a seat reserved for non-Muslims.
From Sindh, 11 senators have officially been notified — seven to general seats, two to technocrats including Ulema, and two to women seats.
Prior to issuance of this notification, the Election Commission rejected pleas, urging it to withhold victory notifications of Faisal Vawda and Yusuf Raza Gilani over dual nationality controversy and alleged vote buying in the recently held Senate polls respectively.
The Election Commission rejected the PTI’s petition to hold back Gilani’s Senate victory notification. The commission will, however, take up for hearing, and fixed March 22 for the video scandal against Ali Haider Gilani, son of Yusuf Raza Gilani, and issued notices to all the parties to the case. The ECP said no precedent of stopping the victory notification is available.
Vawda appeared in person before a bench of the Commission, headed by member ECP from Punjab Justice Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi (R), along with his counsel. The Senator-elect was told by the commission to appear again and submit his answers to the commission at the next hearing.
During the course of Wednesday’s hearing, Vawda said he was unable to appear last time because his mother was unwell. When Vawda’s lawyer asked for time to prepare for the case, the petitioner, Jahangir Khan Jadoon, contended that Vawda himself was present to answer the questions raised and alleged that Vawda lied about his dual nationality.
To this, the judge pointed out that several columns were left empty in Vawda’s nomination papers for the National Assembly in 2018 (general election).
Jadoon pointed out that the Islamabad High Court had declared Vawda’s affidavit regarding his nationality as ‘false’ and he added that it was the responsibility of the commission to stop a ‘dishonest man’ from becoming a part of the Parliament.
Addressing the senator-elect, the minister, the lawyer asked that he was asked three questions as to why some sections in the nomination papers were left empty. To this, Vawda replied that he was a layman and this is a political case, claiming that the petitioner, Jahangir Jadoon, was former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s man. Vawda assured the ECP of his presence at the next hearing on March 18.
Meanwhile, another petition was filed by Rashid A Rizvi to stop the ECP from notifying Faisal Vawda’s Senate victory. Rizvi contended that Vawda had mentioned the United States as his place of birth in his passport. He said he should be asked when he gave up his nationality. “We should be given temporary relief by stopping Faisal Vawda’s notification,” he pleaded.
However, ECP member from Punjab said the petition would be heard alongside other petitions on the same matter and remarked, “we can de-notify after the decision is taken regarding (Vawda’s) ineligibility but we cannot stop the notification at the moment”. Jadoon argued that if the notification was not stopped, the minister would be able to cast his vote in the election for Senate chairman and deputy chairman, scheduled to be held on March 12. To this, the judge replied that the right of those who had voted for Vawda in the Senate polls could not be denied.
Meanwhile, the IHC turned down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against the victory of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Senate elections.
The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minhallah took up the plea filed by the PTI MNA Ali Nawaz Awan. During the hearing, the CJ asked the petitioner that why he is dragging the court into political matters?
“Your party has moved the ECP over the matter, let the electoral body decide about the plea and later you can contact the IHC,” he added. Justice Athar Minallah remarked that political matters should be settled in the Parliament.
Ali Nawaz Awan had challenged the victory of Yusuf Raza Gilani in Senate elections in the IHC. His plea stated that Yusuf Raza Gilani is a convicted person, hence ineligible for the Upper House.