Dual Nationality : Pakistan minister among 12 lawmakers disqualified
Islamabad: After founding guilty for violating provisions of the Constitution by holding dual nationality, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday disqualified 12 federal and provincial lawmakers, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry issued the order in response to a petition filed by a man named Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, who had asked the apex court to disqualify all lawmakers having dual nationality.
After the apex court had suspended Malik’s membership of the Senate in June on the ground that he had not provided proof of renouncing his British citizenship, Malik had resigned as a lawmaker. He had contested a bypoll to the Senate in July and was re-elected to the upper house.
The other lawmakers who were disqualified are Farahnaz Isphani‚ Zahid Iqbal‚ Farhad Muhammad Khan and Jamil Malik (all members of Parliament), Muhammad Ikhlaq‚ Ashraf Chohan‚ Chaudhry Waseem Qadir, Amna Buttar and Nadeem Khadim (all members of the Punjab Assembly), and Ahmad Ali Shah Nadia and Gabool Sindh (both members of the Sindh Assembly).
The disqualified lawmakers belong to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, main opposition PML-N and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a key ally in governments at the Centre and in Sindh.
Ispahani is a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari and the wife of former envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani. The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to take action against the disqualified lawmakers and submit a report in this regard within two weeks.
