FIA scrutiny finds Fauzia Kasuri, Faisal Vawda to be dual nationals
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has handed over to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) a list of 122 nomination papers it has found to have been filed by candidates holding dual nationality.
The list includes several prominent names, including the PPP's former chief minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Faisal Vawda and veteran politican Fauzia Kasuri, who is currently associated with the Pak Sarzameen Party.
Shah, however, contested the FIA's findings, stating in a tweet that he had already renounced his Canadian citizenship — a claim he substantiated by producing a certification of renunciation.
For all those who have blindly accepted an outdated list of dual nationals released by FIA, here is my renunciation certificate. Also, I have been cleared by the honourable Supreme Court of all objections previously raised. Sad how things are flashed without proper verification! pic.twitter.com/ndvbBiC8Hz
— Murad Ali Shah (@MuradAliShahPPP) June 16, 2018
There are a few double entries in the list, as the FIA has considered nomination papers filed for different seats separately even if they have been filed by the same person.
There are a total of 49 anomalies in the nomination papers filed for the National Assembly, 53 in papers filed for the Punjab Assembly, 11 in papers for Sindh, eight in papers for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in papers filed for the Balochistan Assembly.
The data was gleaned from the FIA's Integrated Border Management System, which records traveler data of all incoming and outgoing passengers traveling across the Pakistani border.
"This database was utilized to identify the foreign travel document presented by the traveler at immigration counter while embarking / disembarking on the journey," the report said.
The FIA received a total of 19,880 records from the ECP, which it parsed through its system to identify 122 individuals who had traveled on foreign passports.
Out of the total, 60 were found to be UK nationals, 26 American nationals, 24 Canadian passport holders, three Irish, two from Belgium and one each who held passports issued by Singapore, Australia, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain and even Uzbekistan.
The FIA said the identification of people was limited by the data it has available in its repository. It also stated that "contesting candidates who have traveled on a foreign travel document as per our record but have initiated renunciation process to surrender their foreign nationality have been treated as foreign traveldocument holder".