Dual nationality case: Petitioner files fresh reference against Rehman Malik

Asif Ezdi insists interior minister stands disqualified.

ISLAMABAD:

Dissatisfied with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision not to disqualify Rehman Malik, one of the petitioners who had filed a reference against the interior minister has once again approached the commission to allow him a personal hearing.

In a letter written to the Chief Election Commissioner on Wednesday, Asif Ezdi claimed that under the relevant constitutional provision, a person who acquires citizenship of a foreign state stands disqualified even after he/she renounces the foreign citizenship.

On Tuesday, election authorities disposed of a reference against the disqualification of the interior minister, endorsing the Senate deputy chairman’s observation that “no question of disqualification” had arisen in the case of Malik – who was under scrutiny for submitting false statements to the Supreme Court in the dual nationality case.

The deputy chair of the Senate, Sabir Baloch, rejected two separate references against Malik that sought his disqualification.

One of the references was filed by Maulvi Iqbal Haider after the Supreme Court’s September 20 decision in which it disqualified 11 lawmakers for holding dual nationality.

Ezdi, on the other hand, filed a reference in August 2012, before the court’s September 20 order, challenging Malik’s status as a Senator.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on Wednesday, he said he had raised two basic questions in his letter to the chief election commissioner.

“I pointed out that although Rehman Malik had renounced his British citizenship, he remains disqualified from being elected in parliament under Article 63 (1), which states that a person stands disqualified if he ‘acquires the citizenship of a foreign state’. It is clear from this language that such a person is permanently disqualified, even if he subsequently renounces his foreign citizenship,” he said.

Secondly, Ezdi added, under the Constitution, the senate chairman should have made the decision on his reference within a 30-day timeframe; otherwise, it should have been referred to the election commission automatically.

Ezdi said he had sent his reference to the senate chairman on August 15, and the chairman was supposed to have made a decision within 30 days. Instead, he added, he received a letter from the acting chairman last week stating that his letter was “considered and disposed off”, without giving any explanation.

Ezdi said he would tap all available legal forums to press his contentions.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.