ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday filed a petition in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the appointment of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz as vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The petition was filed by PTI leader and parliamentary secretary Farrukh Habib, Javeria Zafar, Kanwal Shauzab and Maleeka Bokhari.
The petition stated that the appointment of Maryam Nawaz is unconstitutional and illegal. Maryam Nawaz is not eligible to hold any public or political office, the petition further said.
On May 6, it was reported that PTI has decided to challenge Maryam’s appointment as vice president of the PML-N in the court.
“Maryam Nawaz is convicted from the court, how she can hold a party position?” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked during an interaction with journalists.
He said the political heir of the former prime minister was given a temporary relief as her jail term was suspended by the court, but her conviction remained intact.
Qureshi said consultation was underway with lawyers in this regard, and the party is also mulling to contact the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in this matter.
On May 3, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif approved the restructuring of the party a day after abandoning the chairmanship of the parliament’s key accountability forum, the Public Accounts Committee.
The revamped hierarchy features former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as senior vice president, while former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal has become the central general secretary.
The restructuring also saw Maryam, long seen as Nawaz’s heir apparent, and Shehbaz’s son Hamza being appointed party vice presidents for the first time.
Other vice presidents include Abid Sher Ali, Ayaz Sadiq, Chaudhry Barjees Tahir, Dr Darshan Lal Punchi, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khurram Dastgir, Mian Javed Latif, Muhammad Zubair, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Nelson Azeem, Pervaiz Rashid, Raheela Durrani, Rana Tanveer Hussain and Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan.
Former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is facing graft cases and is living in self-exile in London, was appointed as the party’s president for international affairs.
