ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) will take up for hearing references filed against two members of the parliament — one each from both Houses on October 21.

The references against PTI Senator Saifullah Abro and Sohail Sultan, one of the 39 members of the National Assembly to have been notified to be PTI lawmakers by the ECP on July 24 while partially implementing the Supreme Court’s judgment on reserved seats, have been quickly fixed for hearing soon after being received from Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani and Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, respectively.

A reference seeking disqualification of PTI Senator Saifullah Abro under Article 63(2) of the Cons­ti­tution was filed with the Senate Secretariat by PPP Senator Shahadat Awan and one by Majid Mehmood from Islamabad.

The reference accuses Senator Abro of concealing his income and lacking the required experience to qualify for seat of a technocrat.

Cases against Senator Saifullah Abro and Swat MNA Sohail Sultan quickly fixed for hearing

Mr Abro was elected as a senator from Sindh on a technocrat seat in 2021 on the PTI ticket. The reference alleges that the documents Mr Abro submitted about his experience were misleading. The minimum requirement for the technocrat seat is 20 years of relevant experience, which the complainants say Mr Abro lacks.

The reference also alleges that Mr Abro submitted bogus docum­e­nts relating to multi-billion-rupee projects, including the Larkana Fly­over and Metro Bus Project, Multan.

The senator is also accused of having deliberately withheld information about his children and failed to disclose income generated from the agricultural land.

The Speaker of the National Assembly has forwarded a reference seeking disqualification of Member of National Assembly (MNA) from Swat’s NA-4, Mr Sohail Sultan, to the ECP a few days ago.

The reference was submitted by Nasrullah Khan, a resident of Swat and alleges that Mr Sultan provided false information to the ECP regarding his employment status.

It claims that Mr Sultan held the position of deputy attorney general of KP prior to his election, a violation of election law which bars government employees from contesting elections until two years after their retirement. The complaint deman­ded immediate disqualification of Mr Sultan. In response, the Speaker forwarded the same to the ECP, requesting legal action.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024