LAHORE, Feb 19: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) filed a complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday seeking disqualification of nine MPAs for joining the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

PPP Punjab parliamentary and deputy parliamentary leaders Maj Zulfiqar Gondal (retired) and Shaukat Basra are complainants to the case.

They have also submitted a petition to the Punjab Assembly speaker urging him to file a reference against the MPAs in question for violating the Constitution.

According to the complaint, sections 62 and 63 of the Constitution and 99(2) of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1976 apply to the acts of (nine) MPAs — Nishat Ahmed Daha, Syed Jamil Shah, Rana Babar Husain and Abbas Zafar Hiraj (from Khanewal district), Rana Munawwar Husain and Sardar Kamil Gujjar (Sargodha), Javed Alauddin from Okara, Qaiser Sandhu from Gujranwala and Azma Zahid Bukhari (reserved seat).The Section 99(2) says if a person elected to an assembly as a candidate or a nominee of a political party withdraws himself from that party, he shall from the date of the withdrawal be disqualified from being the member of the assembly.

The PPP also says that the members in question had sworn in on Holy Quran before entering into the office that they would remain loyal, sincere and committed to the PPP Parliamentarians.

“The Article 62 (B) and (F) say a person is qualified for the membership of the assembly if he is of a good character, righteous, honest and Amin.”

The PPP prayed the MPAs in question be declared disqualified and also be refrained from contesting any election.

Punjab CEC Mahboob Anwar told Dawn that he would only comment on PPP complaint after going through it. Mr Basra will plead the case in the ECP as a lawyer representing the PPPP. Mr Basra said these MPAs had not voted the PPP’s candidate for the Senate, Aslam Gill, in last March and received funds and other favours from Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

He said: “We have also submitted a complaint to the speaker and hoped that he would send a reference against these nine MPAs to the ECP.”

Opposition Leader Raja Riaz said the ECP would declare these MPAs disqualified. “The ECP should set an example by disqualify the turncoats,” he said, adding that the PML-N leadership was consuming its energies to making the politicians of other parties “turncoats”.