*Petition asserts that Sharif’s ‘wrong’ statement on the floor of the House shows he is not ‘Sadiq’ or ‘Ameen’ and is therefore not qualified to hold office of PM
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Senator Chaudhry Shujat Hussain has filed a petition in the Supreme Court for disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, stating that the PM is not “Sadiq” and “Ameen” and is ineligible for being the country’s PM, as per Article 62 (F) of the Constitution.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Election Commission of Pakistan, the Defence secretary and others have been made party in the petition.
The constitutional petition filed through constitutional lawyers Irfan Qadir and Sardar Abdul Razzaq has taken the stance that during the sit-ins of PTI and PAT in Islamabad, PM Sharif asked Army Chief General Raheel Sharif to play a role to resolve the crisis following which the Army chief met the leaders of the two protesting parties.
Following protests from the protesting parties over the decision to involve the Army chief, the next day, PM Sharif stated on the floor of the House that he had not asked the Army or the Army chief to mediate, the petition reportedly states.
During the speech, the PM had also stated that the interior minister had told him (PM) that Qadri and Khan had requested General Sharif that they wanted to meet him and the Pm had given the nod to the army chief to meet the two leaders, said the petitioner.
“Afterwards, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had clarified in a press release that during the meeting between the PM and army chief, the PM had asked the army chief to play the role of a facilitator in resolving the crisis and on the PM’s desire, the army had started the process,” the petitioner has stated.
It has been further submitted in the petition that on making the “wrong” statement on the floor of the Parliament, the PM is no longer “Sadiq” and “Ameen” as stated in Article 62(F) of the Constitution and therefore does not qualify to be a member of the assembly or the PM.
It has also been submitted in the petition that in 2009 Sharif had undertaken a long march for his political objectives but now he is stating that long marches are illegal. The petitioner has submitted that the petition is the most important constitutional matter and the Supreme Court should take notice of it and take action.
