The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has instituted legal proceedings against Minister for Interior Rehman Malik and 11 other Members of the Senate, National and Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and Sindh for making false declaration while filing nomination papers for election.
In a press conference here on Monday, Secretary ECP, Ishtiaq Ahmed, however, declared that Rehman Malik would be considered as Minister as well as Senator till Chairman Senate sent a disqualification reference against him (Malik) as Member Senate for submitting a false statement in Senate for contesting election in 2008.
Following the directives of Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 20, the ECP had denotifed 11 parliamentarians for having dual nationality and not declaring it at the time of election. "Supreme Court of Pakistan in a separate verdict directed Chairman Senate to forward a disqualification reference upon his (Malik) false statement submitted in 2008 Senate Election," Secretary explained.
Secretary responded that Chairman Senate is bound to forward a reference against Malik in 30 days. In case Chairman Senate does not comply with the order of apex court and not send reference in the given time, ECP itself will decide upon de-notifying Malik as Member Senate, he declared. Like other Parliamentarians, Malik's case would be referred to a sessions judge. He may receive punishment of up to three years imprisonment or a Rs 5,000 fine or both. Malik may also be disallowed to contest election for the next five years, according to secretary.
He further mentioned that secretaries Senate Secretariat, National and Provincial Secretariats had not been co-operative to the commission. Despite the lapse of six months and repeated requests made by the commission, they were not furnishing the list of lawmakers having dual nationality. The Secretary said the commission further directed that a declaration be obtained from all the Parliamentarians and Members of the Provincial Assemblies on the pro forma, approved by it, as to whether each one of them was citizen of Pakistan and had not obtained the citizenship of any foreign state/country at the time of filing his/her nomination papers; nor he still has ceased to be Pakistani citizen or has obtained the citizenship of any foreign state/country.
An important meeting of the commission was held under the chairmanship of the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan to discuss and deliberate upon a number of issues relating to upcoming general election as well as the order of the apex court dated September 29, 2012 regarding dual citizenship. The Commission observed that it had been making extensive efforts to obtain information regarding dual nationality of Parliamentarians and Members of Provincial Assemblies for over two years from the concerned Ministries. The meeting was informed that only recently Commission had proposed an amendment to the form prescribed for filing the annual statements of assets and liabilities by the Parliamentarians and Members of Provincial Assemblies to include therein information as to whether or not they hold a foreign passport. This will help in obtaining the requisite information on a continuous basis. This proposal is pending President's consent.
The meeting was further informed that the commission directed that legal proceedings be instituted against the following 12 members of the Senate, National and Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and Sindh on account of making false declaration while filing their nomination papers and thus committing corrupt practice under Section 78 of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 read with sections 82 thereof and sections 193, 196, 197, 198 and 199 of the Pakistan Penal Code: A. Rehman Malik, Senator, Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal, MNA, Ms Farah Naz Isfahani, MNA, Farhat Muhammad Khan, MNA, Muhammad Jamil Malik, MNA, Muhammad Akhlaq, MPA, Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chohan, MPA, Waseem Qadir, MPA, Chaudhry Nadeem Khadim, MPA, Ms Amna Buttar, MPA, Ms Nadia Gabol, MPA and Dr Ahmed Ali Shah, MPA.
The Commission also considered the issue of bringing on the electoral rolls, 2012 all the new CNIC holders and directed that the exercise of enrolling new CNIC holders in the electoral rolls should be initiated immediately and simultaneously an appeal be made to the general public as well as the political parties to avail this opportunity and help the Election Commission in the process of their registration as voters to ensure that all eligible persons are on the voter list before the announcement of schedule for ensuing general election in the country.
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