The Supreme Court had disqualified some dual national lawmakers and directed the ECP to proceed with legal formalities against those lawmakers.
The National Assembly and Senate, however, have refused to comply with the Supreme Court order.
The provincial assemblies of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have asked their lawmakers to submit affidavits confirming that they do not hold dual nationalities.
Under Article 63 (1) (c) of the Constitution, a person is not eligible to become a member of parliament or a provincial assembly if he/she possesses any foreign nationality. The constitutional provision was not adhered to till recently, when the Supreme Court disqualified 11 lawmakers, from different political parties, adjudged to be dual nationals on September 20.
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@Nadeem: There is no good time to fix the problem.So whenever you could take care of it, will be fine. Hopefully this will save lot of time to next parlimentatians and future SC judges.
The spirit of law is being ignored. The so called book is being thrown at politicians by the judges that are doing mischief hiding behind the respect of judiciary All business of state is paralyzed ever body is guilty and corrupt except judges and their political supporters When a large majority of legislators have dual nationality then it should be accepted as common practice till next election and people will decide Same judges didn’t blink an eye during Musharraf time when almost all parliament was comprised of dual nationals. Judiciary is undermining democracy by different tactics. It is enmity against Pakistan and its people.
I@Arif Khan: I beg to differ with you,sir.Constitution is very clear on this.Dual national can not sit in the parliment.These people should have not contested election in the first place.You can be son or daughter of one mother not two. shahid Butt MD
@Arif Khan: Of course, those who have taken oath of allegiance to another country should not be allowed to seek elected office or even vote in the country of their origin. If they really loved it, they would not have taken citizenship in another country. And about that "$13 billion," sir, let's be honest: Non-Pakistanis -- Pakistani nationals who have taken citizenship in other countries -- send money to Pakistan to buy property, help their families or in some cases pay for the education of their kids whom they forcefully send to Pakistan to study because they don't want their kids to develop "bad ways" of the West, where they have no shame living and minting money, etc. They don't send these billions to Pakistan simply because they "love" Pakistan. There is already enough corruption in Pakistani politics; Pakistan cannot have a dose of hypocrisy -- another form of corruption -- from self-declared lovers of Pakistan who just cannot live in it. Siddique Malik, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
@Noor Nabi: No one sneaked in. EC and the courts had to interpret the constitution and make rules accordingly. They should have told the candidates clearly what the interpretation of the constitution instead of making them read and Interpret it. In many Cases SC has come up with bizarre interpretations, so ordinary people don't know. In short these two institutions had failed to ensure that constitution is followed and they are nown trying to pin their failure on others.
If the Constitution of the country debars dual nationals from being parliamentarians then the law has to be followed. It is now beyond any doubt that a number of people sneaked into the assemblies as well as the senate by telling lies. Hence it is necessary to look into this matter in a manner that treats everybody equally. If there is non-cooperation regarding this matter then all by-elections waiting to happen should be halted and the country should move towards fresh elections. Pakistan is going through a very troubled time where its existence is at stake. Such silly distractions on the part of parliamentarians to circumvent a constitutional provision are unwarranted and unacceptable.
What a waste of time and energy. For God's sake CEC sahib, you should prepare for the new election. And who are you to call 2 million ex pats half Pakistani's. Who are you to label us as less patriotic. If we stop sending the 13 billion dollars, you want enjoy your flagged car and airconditioned office. Have some real plan hor honest election dont waste time on so called dual nationality issue. Arif Khan FRCS london
The election commission ECP should be dissolved as it is inefficient and impotent