ISLAMABAD: A full bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, will hear identical petitions seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today (Wednesday).

In all, five petitions that were clubbed together by the commission will come up for hearing.

Of these, four only target the prime minister, while the one filed by Pakistan Peoples Party secretary general Sardar Latif Khosa seeks the disqualification of PM Sharif and other members of his family, including Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz, prime minister’s son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is the father-in-law of the prime minister’s daughter.

Other petitioners include the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s Awami Muslim League (AML), Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and an individual petitioner, Prof Waheen Kamal.

Four petitions target the prime minister while one seeks disqualification of his family members, including his son-in-law

A petition filed by Nawabzada Salahuddin of the PTI, seeking Captain Safdar’s disqualification for concealing the assets of his spouse Maryam Nawaz Sharif, is also fixed for hearing.

At the previous hearing, Captain Safdar had been ordered to file a written reply to the allegations levelled against him, but his counsel had challenged the ECP’s jurisdiction to hear the petition filed by Nawabzada Salahuddin, who had lost Mansehra’s National Assembly seat to Captain Safdar in the 2013 general elections.

Awami National Party leader Bushra Gohar’s petition seeks the disqualification of three PTI lawmakers; a senator and two Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly members, for submitting false declarations and not disclosing their offshore businesses as unveiled in the Panama Papers.

In the petition filed on May 20, the ANP leader claims that PTI Senator Liaquat Tarakai, in his annual statement submitted to the ECP, did not mention his overseas company ‘Ambassadors Overseas Limited’, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Another pending petition, which was filed against PTI by founder member Akbar S. Babar for gross violations of the relevant laws in managing party accounts, is also on the cause list for Wednesday. The petition was filed in November 2014.

The PTI refuses to accept the authority of the ECP to scrutinise PTI accounts over allegations of massive corruption in utilizing party funds, receiving funds from illegal foreign sources, including hundi, and gross violations of the Political Parties Order 2002.

The ECP had rejected the PTI stance questioning its jurisdiction in its order of Oct 8, 2015

The PTI petition against PM Sharif was filed by Dr Yasmin Rashid, who lost to Nawaz Sharif in the 2013 elections from Lahore. It seeks the disqualification of the prime minister for not declaring the complete assets of family members in his nomination papers. At the last hearing, the PTI had demanded hearings on a daily basis.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2016