Govt to challenge election commission's ruling in Maryam Nawaz case: SAPM Awan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Media and Broadcasting, Firdous Ashiq Awan today said that the government had decided to challenge the dismissal of PTI’s petition seeking Maryam Nawaz’s ouster from active party politics, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

SAPM Awan addressing the issue said, “Election commission’s verdict on Maryam Nawaz’s case will be challenged in court, the verdict goes against prior court verdicts against the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) Vice President.”

Awan added that the election commission’s verdict in the case deemed the PMLN stalwart to be a convict, yet failed to ensure justice.

Awan also stated that Maryam was not eligible to address rallies and gatherings as a party leader, nor is she eligible to hold office as a party representative due to her conviction.

Earlier in the day, The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had ruled in favour of Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President declaring her appointment to the senior party post as lawful.

On May 9, PTI lawmakers Barrister Malika Bukhari, Farrukh Habib, Kanwal Shauzab and Javeria Zafar had filed a petition, saying Ms Maryam’s appointment was against the law.

The ECP after hearing arguments from both the side on Monday had reserved its verdict and said that the verdict would be announced on Tuesday (today).

On May 3, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif had approved the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as one of the party’s vice presidents, besides his son Hamza Shahbaz.