The unique case of lawmaker Meraj Humayun

PESHAWAR: The case of lawmaker Meraj Humayun is unique as she was accused of selling her vote in the Senate election both by her previous and new political party. Though she has denied the accusation, her accusers remain unconvinced.

Meraj Humayun, who belongs to Swabi, is also the only lawmaker to have been served show-cause notice by two parties - the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) that she quit and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which she subsequently joined with lot of hopes. Both the parties accused her of selling her vote to candidates other than those fielded by the QWP and PTI.

The action against her by the QWP and PTI has left Meraj Humayun stranded in the political wilderness.

She is now neither with the QWP nor with the PTI. It is unclear which party she will join next or where she will have any chances of getting elected as an MPA again.

Her predicament could be judged from her recent decision to attend a meeting of Awami National Party (ANP) dissidents in Swabi where two original party candidates, Shahnawaz Khan and Sarfaraz Khan Jadoon, gathered their supporters to decide their next course of action after the tickets given to them for contesting the coming election were withdrawn. Shahnawaz Khan had been fielded by the ANP to contest for a National Assembly seat and former lawmaker Sarfaraz Jadoon for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Both have decided to contest election against the new ticket-holders of the ANP and Meraj Humayun along with other political workers has assured them of their support.

Meraj Humayun had done more or less a satisfactory job as a lawmaker.

In particular, she worked for women empowerment and education. Her background as a social worker running a non-governmental organization helped her in her work at the provincial assembly.

However, it was her participation in politics and election as MPA on a seat reserved for women that made her well-known and also provided her an opportunity to serve the people.

But she faltered in her decision-making first by quitting the QWP despite being twice elected as MPA on its ticket and then by hurriedly joining the PTI.

In presence of many other contenders, she never had a chance of getting the PTI ticket for contesting the next election on a general or reserved seat. And to her shock, the PTI too accused her of selling her vote in Senate polls.

Though she denied the accusation and claimed innocence, many people are asking as to how come two rival parties have made the same allegation against her.