Faisal Vawda reinstated as senator by ECP

• Vawda is to resign as his PTI membership has been terminated
• ECP will hold re-election on the seat
• PPP's Nisar Khuhro's victory notification suspended

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has restored former federal minister Faisal Vawda as a senator after Supreme Court (SC) revoked his lifetime disqualification, reported The News.

The ECP withdrew its earlier notification of declaring Faisal Vawda's seat from Sindh as vacant following the SC decision. PPP’s Nisar Ahmad Khuhro was elected a member of the Senate in March this year on the same seat. However, the ECP has retracted its March 15, 2022 notification of Nisar Khuhro’s victory.

Vawda was disqualified by the ECP in February this year in a dual nationality case. The former PTI leader had been elected member of the upper house of Parliament in March 2021 on a PTI ticket. The notification of his 2021 has been restored now.

However, in line with the SC's verdict, Vawda will resign, and the commission will hold a re-election to fill the seat.

Vawda's basic PTI membership had been terminated in October for allegedly violating the party policy.

Supreme Court verdict

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the ECP has no jurisdiction under the constitution to decide upon the pre-election disqualification of a lawmaker.

In its four-page short order, the top court nullified the verdicts of the ECP and the high court and said: "ECP has no jurisdiction [...] to inquire into and decide upon the matter of pre-election disqualification and disqualification of a returned candidate."

Vawda's termination from PTI

On October 26, a former PTI member held a press conference in Islamabad following the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya who, according to Vawda, was killed in a "premeditated murder".

During the presser, Vawda also claimed that PTI's long march — which began from Lahore on October 28 — would "witness bloodshed, death, and funerals."

Following his remark, the party first suspended his membership after he failed to respond to the show-cause notice issued to him on the day of his fiery presser.

PTI confirmed the termination of Vawda's basic membership from the party on Twitter.

PTI also said that Vawda would not be allowed to hold any party office or represent the party in the media as he had "grossly violated discipline by giving statements against party policies and guidelines".