–Ruling party to move Supreme Court against PPP co-chairman
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday withdrew a disqualification reference filed in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
The petition filed by PTI’s MPA Khurram Sher Zaman on December 21 sought the disqualification of the former president for allegedly concealing his apartment in New York in his tax returns.
Taking back his reference, Zaman said, “I want to move the SC against the PPP co-chairman,” adding that “we have come across evidence that we will only present before a top forum”.
“The evidence has been verified. Our preparation is complete,” he said.
“We want to bring this case to a logical conclusion, so we asked the ECP to allow us to take it to the SC,” Zaman added.
On the directions of ECP member from Sindh Abdul Ghaffar Soomro, Zaman submitted a handwritten request, saying: “I want to take this case to the Supreme Court because I believe the pieces of evidence I have acquired […] are pivotal and in the best interest of Pakistan.”
On December 27, the ECP had reviewed Zaman’s reference and accorded approval for an initial hearing.
Earlier, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said that the PTI had directed its Sindh lawmaker Zaman to file a reference against Zardari for not mentioning his foreign assets in the nomination papers.
“Zardari owns an apartment in the United States. Under Article 62/63, he was bound to declare his assets which he didn’t. He is not eligible to remain a member of the Parliament any more,” Chaudhry had said.
The reference had requested the election watchdog to disqualify the former head of state as a member of the National Assembly for concealing an apartment he allegedly owns in Belaire Condominiums located at 524 East 72nd Street, New York, New York, USA, in his nomination form for the 2018 general elections.
Zardari was elected to the National Assembly from NA-213, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, in the 2018 general elections.