The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended Interior Minister Rehman Malik as a member of parliament for allegedly running for office while still a British citizen.The constitution bars MPs from acquiring foreign nationality. Under the law, elected MPs can be ministers, although non-elected members of parliament can join the cabinet as advisers.
Malik, elected to the Senate in 2009, said he renounced his British citizenship and promised to submit documentary evidence in court. But a certificate presented to a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Monday failed to satisfy the judges.
“The bench ordered the suspension of Rehman Malik’s membership of the Senate,” an official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The court said Malik’s membership would be restored if he furnished adequate proof on June 13 that he had renounced his British citizenship before his election, he said.
Members of the government have accused judges of overstepping their reach and of trying to bring down the Pakistan People’s Party-run government before it becomes the first elected administration in Pakistan to complete an elected term. In April, the Supreme Court convicted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of contempt for refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. In the interim verdict, the apex court said Malik had failed to prove renouncing of his British nationality therefore under Act-63 he was illegible to have Senate membership.
Meanwhile, Malik’s lawyer failed to produce any evidence of Malik renouncing his British citizenship. Malik had submitted an affidavit before the court that he renounced his citizenship in 2008, but has failed to produce the required evidence thus far.Earlier during the hearing, a list of 14 more parliamentarians having dual nationality was filed in the Supreme Court.
The list included names of Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, Anusha Rehman, Muhammad Ikhlaq, Ashraf Chohan, Waseem Qadir and Nadeem Khadim; Deputy Senate Chairman Sabir Ali Baloch, PPP’s Zahid Iqbal, Tariq Mahmood Alloana, Ahmed Ali Shah and Amna Buttar; and MQM’s Farhat Muhammad Khan and Nadia Gabol. Also, prominent TV anchor Dr Shahid Masood filed a petition against Rehman Malik, stating that the minister was a British national and Britain had appointed him the country’s honorary counselor in Niger, a republic in West Africa. Following the Supreme Court’s interim order suspending Malik’s membership, the government promptly decided to appoint him an adviser to the prime minister on interior affairs but a notification in this regard was not issued by the time this report was made at 1am.
KHUS KUM ZAHAN PAAK
We salute supreme court
I would have preferred hanging him instead.
Rehman Malik has made statements in court and in public that he quit his UK nationality in 2008. Why isn't the media going after him for lying to the court and misleading the public? Is there no punishment (jail time) for lying under oath? What are his motives for lying? Why doesn't the SC take one final step and go for all or nothing? The people will support the SC against this govt. whose approval rating is only at 12% anyway. That means that the other 88% disapprove of thsi govt. Lets get rid of them.
A weasel removed from one section of the hen coop, gets protection from another weasel in another section to gobble.
Only those holding a singular Pakistani nationality should hold public office, where elected or paid. More than 50% of our senior bureaucrats like Capt Naseer, Salman Siddique, Kamran Lashari, Khusnood Lashari, sitting Gov State Bank Mr Anwar, DGCA Nadeem Yousafzai, Pak High Commissioner in UK, Pak High commissioner India, DMD PIA Sleem Sayani, DMD PIA Imran Ahmed Khan, MD PIA Investment etc hold dual nationalities, which should disqualify them
President PTI Women Wing Fauzia Kasuri is a dual national and so does Jehangir Tareen, MQM MNA Farooq Sattar, MQM MNA Haider, PPP MNA Ahmed Mukhtar etc etc etc
As far as I know PTI is not in the parliament so Fauzia is safe
There is no law in the cons.titution res.training any minister or member of pa.rliament from holding dual nationality. SC action is vindictive. Read the const.itution and it is ab.solutely clear in the const.itution. If somebody does not like it, then leg.islation should be demanded from Parliament, and SC has no aut.hority to legislate. This is just a political activi.sm by SC… for power politics.
It is 'heartening' to learn that individuals like Mr. Mushtaq know the Constitution more than the Supreme Court. Judges please go home.
Can we not just like make up a law and convict and hang him. Let them keep appealing his conviction after his death. We could always say oops, sorry 🙂
Count me in!
Better yet, lets prop up a General for a coup. We can get rid of the whole bunch in one swipe. Especially if it looks like they were either trying to escape the country or resisting arrest (for their own protection ofcourse).
It is high time the apex court takes on the bureaucrats too. Once sorted out these dual nationality holders will rush back to the country of their choosing. They are her to make money and take it to America Canada Australis England etc. Some ten thousands high profile jobs will be created to be filled in by deserving and who believe in this country. Previously the ill gotten wealth of corrupt would remain in Pakistan and contribute to the economy, now they are taking it out on top priority.
I wonder what is the reponse of ppp jiayals to rehman malik being a UK national and at the same time being an interior minister of Pakistan? I know their response will be that so many others are foreign national also. If this is the best response they can come up with then it just goes to show that they really don't have an answer. They will start their rambling again instead of staying on the issue. Their IQ will not allow them to see the grave consequences of having foreign nationals in key positions of the govt. The high commisioner in London is also a UK national. Who does his loyalties belong to? This scenario cannot be imagined in any other country especially with nuclear power. It can only happen in Pakistan and only under ppp govt. This also goes to show that every single allegation of Mansoor Ijaz was also true. We have foreigners ruling the country and obviously they have their own country's interest at heart. This is as bad as possibly could be imagined. I will insist that we dig up gillani's grave after his death and hang his corpse in public.
It is better to demand Parliament to pass legislation against govt functionaries holding dual nationality, rather than appealing and trying to influence SupremeCourt to give unconstitutional orders, which in itself would be harbinger of another disaster in our polity, like MaulviTamizUdDin Khan case of 1954.
Article 63. Disqualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament):
(1)A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if:-
(c)he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan, or acquires the citizenship of a foreign State;
Constitution does not allow dual nationals to be MPs in Pakistan. This proves Malik lied to the court while filing his papers in 2008 and even now is lying again.
Malik is a compulsive liar. This is waht everybody has seen for last four years. What else can one expect from this scumb. He should just disapear. World will be much better place without him around.
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