close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Dual nationality case: ECP again directs Vawda to submit reply till 24th

By Fakhar Durrani
March 11, 2020

ISLAMABAD: He was asked to submit his reply before March 10 whether he surrendered his US citizenship before or after the filing of his nomination papers. But he failed to comply with the Election Commission of Pakistan's directions. The commission has again directed Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda to submit his reply till March 24.

Vawda allegedly concealed his dual nationality and lied on oath before the ECP authorities that he was a Pakistani national only. However, contrary to his claim, documents revealed that he was an American citizen at the time of filing nomination papers in the General Elections 2018.

The election commission received four petitions challenging the dual nationality of Faisal Vawda. The first hearing of the case was held on February 03 and the petitioners were asked to submit verified documents, including the renunciation letter attested by the US Embassy in Pakistan. The second hearing of the case was held on February 27 and Vawda was asked to submit his reply on the allegations of concealing his dual nationality and lying on oath about his American citizenship till March 10. However, the legal team of Faisal Vawda appeared before the commission on Tuesday (March 10) and informed it that they hadn’t received the copies of petitions and other documents. The commission, while expressing its annoyance, directed them to submit the reply till March 24. During the hearing, Vawda’s legal team was provided the copies of petitions and other documents. The commission was assured by the counsel for the federal minister that they would submit the reply by next hearing i.e. March 24.

Talking to The News, Faisal Vawda’s lawyer Mr Muhammad confirmed that they had received the copies of the petition and other relevant documents. “We will review the petitions and relevant documents and submit our reply before the next hearing,” he commented.

Earlier, Chairman Aman Taraqqi Party Muhammad Faiq Shah on the directions of ECP had applied for verification of Faisal Vawda’s renunciation letter from the US Embassy. However, the American Embassy on February 16 refused to verify as the information regarding loss of one’s nationality comes under the category of “Private Information”.

“Mr Shah, I am responding to your recent letter to Consul General Silberstein dated February 11, 2020 to inform you that we do not comment on individual renunciation cases," reads the Consulate General of the United States’ letter to Chairman Aman Taraqqi Party.

It is important to note here that the last date to file the nomination papers for the elections held in July 2018 was June 8 and later extended for another three days. Taking his document as evidence, Vawda submitted the election papers on the last date — June 11, 2018 —along with an affidavit wherein he declared himself holding no citizenship other than Pakistani. The Returning Officer (RO) of NA-249, Karachi, his electoral constituency, approved his nomination papers on June 18, 2018. It was only after this approval that Vawda applied for renunciation of his US nationality in the US Consulate, Karachi, meaning thereby he was an American citizen at the time of filing.

Vawda applied for revocation of his American citizenship in the US Consulate Karachi on June 22, 2018 (Friday). Normally, the process of renunciation of the US nationality takes a couple of weeks or even months because it requires clearance from all the concerned departments. However, the US consulate issued the ‘Certificate of Loss of Nationality’ to Vawda on the next working day i.e. June 25, 2018 (Monday), reveal the documents available with The News.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan in its recent judgment categorically directed that candidates who previously held dual nationality shall have the renunciation certificate at the time of filing of nomination papers. Various legislators were disqualified by the top court on this count; included among them are two senators of PML-N. Both of them had applied for renunciation of foreign citizenship much earlier but were unable to obtain the renunciation certificate at the time of filing of nomination papers because of the long process.