ISLAMABAD: The Election Co­m­m­ission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday notified victory of 48 senators-elect, including former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani and Min­­­ister for Water Resources Fai­sal Vawda who are facing legal cha­llenges concerning their eligibility.

The ECP earlier in the day rejected pleas seeking withholding of victory notifications of Mr Vawda over his dual nationality controversy and of Mr Gilani for allegedly ‘buying’ votes in the recently held Senate polls.

As Mr Vawda finally appeared in person before an ECP bench, headed by its member from Punjab Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, along with his counsel, the senator-elect was told to appear again and submit his answers to the commission at the next hearing.

During the course of Wednes­day’s hearing, the PTI senator-elect claimed that he was unable to appear last time because his mother was unwell.

Notifies victory of 48 senators-elect

When his lawyer asked for more time to prepare for the case, petitioner Jahangir Khan Jadoon contended that Mr Vawda could ans­wer the questions before the ben­ch, as he himself was present. “Faisal Vawda lied about his dual nationality,” the petitioner reiterated.

The ECP’s Punjab member pointed out that Mr Vawda had left blank several columns in his nomination papers for the National Assembly in 2018 general elections.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had already declared Mr Vawda’s affidavit regarding his nationality as ‘false’, the petitioner argued, adding that it was the ECP’s responsibility to stop a ‘dishonest man’ from becoming a lawmaker.

While addressing the minister, the petitioner said: “You were asked three questions. Tell us why some sections in the nomination papers were left empty.”

Mr Vawda replied that he was a “layman and this is a political case”. He said the petitioner, Jaha­n­gir Jadoon, was a confidant of ex-premier and supreme leader of the opposition party Nawaz Sharif.

Later, the PTI senator-elect assured the ECP of his attendance at the next hearing on March 18.

Meanwhile, another petition was filed by Rashid A. Rizvi to stop the ECP from notifying Mr Vawda’s Senate victory.

He said Mr Vawda had mentioned the United States as his place of birth in his passport. “He should be asked when he gave up his nationality. We should be given temporary relief by stopping Faisal Vawda’s notification.”

However, the ECP member said the petition would be heard along with other petitions on the same matter. “We can de-notify after the decision is taken regarding [Vawda’s] ineligibility but we cannot stop the notification at the moment.”

Mr 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.

Mr Qureshi replied that the right of those who had voted for Mr Vawda in the recent Senate poll could not be negated either.

While the ECP also rejected the PTI’s petition to block the notification of Mr Gilani’s victory in the Senate election, the commission issued notices to all parties related to the video scandal against Mr Gilani’s son, Ali Haider Gilani, for hearing on March 22.

Gilani asked to quit race

While interacting with reporters outside the ECP office after the issuance of the notices in the video scandal case, PTI’s Maleeka Bokhari said: “If you [Mr Gilani] and your son are issued notices and you are asked to explain whether you used corrupt practices and stole votes, you have already lost.”

“Take yourself out of the race for the PDM candidate for Senate [chairman’s] election,” she said, adding that Mr Gilani no longer had any moral justification to contest the election.

Ms Bokhari, who was accompanied by Farrukh Habib and Aliya Hamza Malik of the ruling PTI, said the first part of their petition related to the video of Mr Gilani’s son, had been held maintainable, putting a question mark on the former prime minister’s claim to be honest and truthful.

Mr Habib told reporters that the ECP had watched the video and issued notices relating to it. “This means the ECP has seen our evidences and there is credibility in them,” he said.

While talking to journalists, Ms Malik wondered why the PDM’s slogan of “Vote Ko Izzat Do” had not been respected by the opposition parties themselves in the recent Senate elections. She alleged they had used money to influence the results.

PDM warned of Gilani’s disqualification

She said PM Khan and PTI members would “fight till the last ball” and would rest once the ECP would disqualify the “vote thief” of the opposition party. “I urge the PDM to think about it — their Senate [chairman] candidate can be disqualified at any time,” she warned.

The PTI had approached the electoral body after a video emerged in which Mr Gilani’s son, Ali Haider Gilani, was filmed telling the ruling party lawmakers how to waste their votes. Mr Haider admits that he met PTI lawmakers and explained to them what to do to waste the votes in case a barcode on ballot papers prevented them from voting ‘in line with their conscience’.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2021