ECP to hear petition seeking Faisal Vawda's disqualification on Feb 3

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will hear a petition seeking the disqualification of Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda on February 3, according to notice issued by the electoral body on Saturday.

The petitioner named Qadir Mandokhel has sought Vawda's disqualification on the grounds that he had submitted a "fake undertaking" to the ECP.

The petitioner alleges that the minister had hid his dual citizenship while submitting his nomination papers for General Elections 2018.

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According to the ECP's notice, notices have been issued to the concerned parties in the case. 

Earlier this week, an investigative report published in The News had revealed that Vawda may have committed perjury by falsely declaring in an oath to the ECP that he did not hold any foreign nationality.

Vawda, as per the English daily's report, had held a US passport when he filed his nomination papers on June 11, 2018. The minister, it is claimed, was a US national even when the scrutiny of his nomination papers was completed.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in a past judgment, has categorically ruled that candidates with dual nationalities are to submit a renunciation certificate of the foreign nationality along with their nomination papers.

Also read: Abid Sher Ali files complaint against Faisal Vawda at UK's NCA

In Vawda’s case, the last date to file the nomination papers for the July 2018 elections was June 11.

Documents reportedly showed that Vawda submitted his election papers on the last date — June 11, 2018 — along with an affidavit in which he declared that he does not hold any citizenship other than that of Pakistan.

The returning officer of Vawda’s constituency, NA-249 Karachi, had approved his nomination papers on June 18.

It was only after getting the approval that Vawda approached the US Consulate in Karachi to relinquish his US nationality. It means that the minister had purportedly been an American citizen at the time his candidature was finalised.

Official US documents, too, show that Vawda had approached the US consulate for the revocation of his American citizenship on June 22.