ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday issued a notice to Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, seeking her reply to a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) petition challenging her appointment as PML-N vice president.

The petition was heard by a three-member bench headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza, during which the bench issued a notice to Maryam seeking her reply to the petition. The commission has fixed June 17 as the date for hearing the plea.

On May 9, PTI lawmakers Farrukh Habib, Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Kanwal Shauzab and Javeria Zafar filed a petition challenging the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as the party’s vice president. It said that the appointment of Maryam as PML-N vice president was in conflict with the law and the Constitution, covering the legal basis under which it contended that Maryam was ineligible to hold public office. It includes a detailed mention of court decisions.

In July last year, an accountability court announced the verdict in the Avenfield properties reference, sentencing Maryam to seven years in prison for abetment after she was found “instrumental in [the] concealment of the properties of her father”, and one year for non-cooperation with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). She was disqualified from contesting polls after being convicted.

However, in January, the apex court upheld an Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdict that had ordered the suspension of the prison sentences awarded to Maryam and her father.

The petition submitted to the ECP now said that an accountability court “declared the PML-N leader to be ineligible for public office” and added that a party position was not in a matter of private capacity. It stated that political parties had an influence on the entire political system and claimed that in the absence of a party president, Maryam would use the elected president’s authority.

In their petition, the PTI MNAs asked how it was possible that members of the assembly fully abide by Article 62 and Article 63 of the Constitution, but the “people who control them don’t”.

The petition said that the Supreme Court had disqualified Nawaz Sharif from his party position as well and added that the ECP should declare Maryam’s appointment null and void.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2019