Daily Times

Leader of the Opposition in Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani and his son Ali Haider Gilani submitted their replies in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as the commission heard a petition filed by PTI leaders seeking disqualification of the former prime minister from the Senate seat.

As the hearing began on Monday, Gilani requested the commission to dismiss disqualification pleas against him for being ‘inadmissible’ as the allegations levelled by the PTI members were ‘baseless’ and ‘frivolous’. He further called Parliamentary Leader for Railways Farrukh Habib and Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Barrister Maleeka Bokhari as ‘habitual petitioners’. The case was filed on the basis of some ‘unauthentic’ videos, he claimed.

Maleeka Bukhari read the transcript of former premier’s son Ali Haider Gilani’s leaked video and claimed that the procedure of wasting a vote was being taught in the clip. The ECP Punjab member asked why the MNAs met Ali Haider Gilani when they clearly knew about horse trading trend in the elections. PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar responded that the video was recorded to expose the corrupt elements in politics.

The three-member bench of the ECP headed by Punjab member issued notices to MNAs Faheem Khan and Jameel Ahmed, seen in the video submitted to the ECP. The ECP also issued the copies of replies of Yousaf Raza Gilani and Ali Haider Gilani to the PTI. The commission adjourned further hearing of the case until April 27.

Meanwhile, the ECP on Monday reserved verdict on maintainability of a petition seeking disqualification of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) MNA Ali Wazir.

A three-member bench of ECP headed by Punjab Member Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi heard the plea. Lawyer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Fazal Khan, applicant in the case, appeared before the ECP.

The bench asked the applicant’s lawyer that has Wazir been convicted in any of the cases? The PTI MNA’s lawyer replied in negative but added that the MNA Ali Wazir had been taken into custody over a controversial speech in Karachi.