Deputy speaker to step into Ayaz Sadiq’s shoes

PML-N counsel drafts appeal against tribunal verdict

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi will take up the reins of the lower house of parliament as acting speaker after the Election Commission of Pakistan de-notified Sardar Ayaz Sadiq as MNA on Monday. The notification states that with effect from August 22, he is no longer a member of the house.

Sadiq of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was elected to the NA-122 constituency for the third consecutive term in the 2013 general elections.

The constituency is located in the heart of Punjab, the provincial capital of Lahore, which is considered a stronghold of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party.

Sadiq was elected to the prestigious office of speaker by a majority vote of the NA in the assembly’s first sitting after the elections.

However, his opponent, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, had challenged the NA-122 result. On Saturday, more than two years after Imran’s petition, an election tribunal declared polling in NA-122 ‘null and void’ and unseated the now former NA speaker.

However, Saeeduz Zaman, who has been engaged to represent Sadiq for appealing to the Supreme Court against the verdict, has completed the draft.

Read: ECP de-notifies Sardar Ayaz Sadiq

The counsel told The Express Tribune that he had sent the appeal to Sadiq for a reading, adding that it would be filed in the apex court in the next two days – most likely on Tuesday (today).

Meanwhile, since the constitution stipulates that in the absence of the speaker, the deputy speaker assumes charge as acting speaker automatically, Abbasi has replaced Sadiq.

However, the constitution does not mention the time frame for electing a new speaker if the incumbent resigns or is unseated.

It’s not yet clear if the government intends to elect a new speaker or if it would wait for the outcome of its petition to the top court before making a decision for the speaker’s post.

The ruling party hopes to get a stay order from the court, since in most of such cases the SC issues a stay order to the applicants as an initial relief before the final adjudication.

A similar high-profile case of Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique of the PML-N is also pending with the apex court.

A post-election tribunal unseated Rafique this May in a similar legal battle with PTI’s Hamid Khan, who was the runner-up in the 2013 elections for NA-125, another Lahore constituency.

The court issued a stay order and the minister retained his office. The final adjudication of the case is still pending.

According to legal experts, a stay order restores the status quo. If Sadiq can get a stay order against the tribunal’s decision, his NA membership can be restored for the time being. In such a situation, he can legally work as the speaker of the lower house.

Read: Ayaz Sadiq to challenge NA-122 verdict in Supreme Court: lawyer

Within the PML-N, however, there are two divergent views on the issue.

Some key members believe that since Sadiq’s election to the assembly has become disputed, he should not work as speaker until the final verdict of the SC or the result of the NA-122 by-poll.

Others are of the view that instead of challenging the tribunal’s verdict, the party should concentrate its efforts on the by-election and contest it with the same candidate. Sources within the party said Sadiq himself holds this view. However, he told a TV channel that he would follow his party leadership’s decision in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2015.