Notice issued: Disqualify prime minister, says petitioner

LAHORE: Justice Shahid Waheed of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in connection with a petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Petitioner Iqtedar Haider told the court that he had approached the ECP a long time ago in this regard. He said the prime minister was not eligible to be elected as an MNA as he was not a righteous (ameen) individual. Since he did not qualify under Article-62 and 63 of the Constitution, Haider said, he was not eligible to contest general elections. He said the ECP had been vacillating on his request for long. Haider said the Panama Papers revelations had corroborated his claims. Despite this, he said, the ECP had failed to reach a decision on his application. Haider requested the court to direct the ECP to disqualify the prime minister from holding any public office.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2016.