ISLAMABAD: In a move that surprised many, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thurs­day withdrew a reference it had filed in December seeking disqualification of former president Asif Ali Zardari as a member of the National Assembly.

A PTI member of the Sindh Assembly, Khurram Sher Zaman, had filed the reference with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking Mr Zardari’s disqualification for allegedly concealing a New York apartment in his statement of assets.

Talking to reporters after the withdrawal of the reference, Mr Zaman said he would move the Supreme Court against the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party. “We have come across evidence that we will only present before a top forum,” the PTI leader stated.

MPA Khurram claims new evidence against PPP leader has been found that will be placed before Supreme Court

He claimed to have more verified documents against Mr Zardari and said he was ready to approach the apex court to bring the case to a logical conclusion. “We requested the ECP to allow us to take this matter to the Supreme Court.”

Earlier during the ECP hearing, the PTI leader told the commission that he had found new evidence against Mr Zardari and he intended to move the Supreme Court, and sought to retract his reference.

On the instruction of a member of the ECP bench, Mr Zaman submitted a written request, saying “I want to take this case to the Supreme Court as I believe the evidences I have acquired are pivotal and in the best interest of Pakistan.”

The reference filed last month maintained that the former president was elected from NA-213 constituency and he did not mention the New York property in the asset details he had submitted with the ECP. It added that concealing assets came under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution and that Mr Zardari had not remained Sadiq and Ameen, therefore he should be declared disqualified.

The ECP had reviewed the reference originally filed with the election commission of Sindh during a meeting on Oct 27 and had accepted it for a preliminary hearing.

Later, the petitioner had been issued a notice to prove that the reference merits a regular hearing.

Subsequently, Jan 10 (Thursday) had been fixed as the date for preliminary hearing and during the proceedings Mr Zaman sought to withdraw the reference with a declared intention to take the matter to the Supreme Court on the basis of ‘concrete evidence’ to prove that Mr Zardari had concealed his assets.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2019