ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda held dual nationality at the time of filing of his nomination papers in General Elections 2018, The News reported on Monday.
The report said Faisal Vawda held nationality of the United States on June 11, 2018, when he submitted his nomination papers which were approved on June 18. While, he had applied for renunciation of US nationality on June 22.
According to the verdicts of the Supreme Court in similar cases, Faisal Vawda should have been disqualified for having dual citizenship at the time of filing nomination papers. He was supposed to submit the renunciation certificate along the nomination papers. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s former senators Saadia Abbasi and Haroon Akhtar had been disqualified in such cases.
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As per a senior lawyer of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he should have been disqualified under Article 63 (1) (c).
The report has quoted various lawyers as saying that anybody who concealed his foreign nationality at the time of filing the election papers should have been disqualified.
On Jan 16, Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had said Prime Minister Imran Khan had banned Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda’s participation in any talk show for two weeks.
In a tweet, Firdous Awan had said the prime minister had also sought clarification from Faisal Vawda over his behavior during a talk show of a private TV channel.
During the ARY News Programme “Off The Record” on Jan 14, Vawda had ridiculed the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Peoples Party using an army boot in live TV show.
Talking about consent of the former ruling parties for passage of the services chiefs amendment bills in the parliament, Faisal Vawda had said they had made a turnaround in their political opinion against the national institution to safeguard their personal interest and in a bid to save their skin from corruption cases.
“The way you have given respect to the boot by laying down and smooching it has exposed you to the nation,” he had said.
PML-N leader Javed Abbasi and PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira, who were sharing the panel of representatives of leading political parties, had walked out of the show expressing their abomination against statements of the federal minister.
