PTI moves Pak EC over Sharif’s qualification as National Assembly member

The Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party moved the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s qualification as a National Assembly member.

Dawn News said PTI lawmakers Ali Mohammad Khan and Murad Saeed approached ECP on the issue.

Khan and Saeed demanded that action be taken against Sharif under Article 62 and 63 of the Pakistan Constitution.

They said Sharif was ineligible to be a National Assembly member because he had been convicted in the Asghar Khan case and the helicopter hijacking cases, and therefore needed to be dealt with according to the law.

Article 62 is the declaration from the presidential candidates affirming that they fulfil the qualification specified in Article 63 and that they are not hit by any of the disqualifications specified in Article 63, or any other law for the time being in force for being elected as the president of Pakistan.

In the Asghar Khan case, the apex court had directed the federal government to take necessary action under the Constitution and the law against Gen (retd) Aslam Beg and Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani for their role in facilitating a group of politicians and political parties to ensure their success against their rivals in the 1990 elections.

Previously, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi had awarded a life sentence to Sharif for ordering the hijacking of a plane that was carrying former army chief Pervez Musharraf and 198 other passengers back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka in October 1999. (ANI with inputs)