SC declares Senate membership of two PML-N leaders void

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disqualified two PML-N leaders – former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s sister Sadia Abbasi and Haroon Akhtar Khan – as members of the Senate over dual nationality.

A seven-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold election to these two Senate seats afresh.

It held that both the PML-N leaders possessed foreign nationality at the time of submission of their nomination papers for the Senate election earlier this year. They are disqualified as members of the Senate,it ruled.

In March this year, elections were held on 52 Senate seats. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the notifications to all successful candidates except those who allegedly hold dual nationalities.

The commission issued the notifications of 47 out of 52 senators-elect after they submitted details of their assets.

Those who have been notified included eight senators-elect from Punjab, 12 from Sindh, 10 from Balochistan, 11 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two from Islamabad and four from the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The electoral body withheld the notifications of five senators-elect, including Nuzhat Sadiq, Chaudhry Sarwar, Haroon Akhter, Sadia Abbasi and independent candidate Khuda Babar from Balochistan.

Their notification were stopped following the orders of the Supreme Court that had restrained the ECP from notifying them until they come clean on dual nationalities.