ECP summons Nawaz Sharif on July 9 in party name case
Petitioner has pleaded ECP against use of Nawaz's name in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
June 29, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) summoned on Friday former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on July 9 in relation to a petition seeking the removal of his name from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) political party.
The notice has been sent to Nawaz’s Jati Umra residence in Lahore. However, at present the prime minister is in London with his family to tend to his ailing wife.
The petition has been filed by Awami Tehreek’s Niaz Inquilabi, who has stated that Nawaz was disqualified from Parliament by the Supreme Court and thus a political party cannot be named after a disqualified person.
The ECP has been pleaded in the petition to take appropriate action in this regard in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.
Double disqualification
Following Nawaz's disqualification as prime minister in July 2017 in the Panama Papers case, the ruling party managed to amend the Constitution to allow the former premier to retain his chairmanship of the PML-N.
As a result, the Elections Act 2017 was passed by Parliament late last year bringing Nawaz back as the party president despite his disqualification from the National Assembly.
Later, the act was challenged in the Supreme Court by several opposition parties.
In February this year, the Supreme Court announced its verdict on the petitions challenging the Elections Act 2017, ruling that a person disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as the head of a political party.
The decision led to Nawaz's removal as the PML-N president. As a result of the verdict, all decisions taken by Nawaz as PML-N president after July, 2017 were deemed null and void.
