Khursheed Shah in Senate elections: PPP writes letters to speaker NA, CEC for production

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party has submitted a request to Speaker National Assembly, Asad Qaisar, for issuance of production order for Syed Khursheed Shah for the upcoming Senate elections. Shah is in jail over a corruption reference of Rs1.23 billion.

Besides writing to the speaker National Assembly, the PPP has also sent an application to the Chief Election Commissioner to take necessary arrangements to produce the party’s detained MNA for voting during the upcoming Senate elections. In a letter to the Speaker National Assembly, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri stated that being the custodian of the house, the NA speaker must ensure all the members to be present on the Senate elections’ day to exercise their democratic and constitutional right to vote.

“You are, therefore, requested to issue the production order of Syed Khursheed Shah to let him attend the National Assembly to exercise his right to vote during the upcoming Senate elections,” they said. In another letter to the Chief Election Commissioner written by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, the PPP stated that PPP MNA Syed Khursheed Shah, who is currently in the jail, was required to attend the National Assembly’s session on the day of the Senate elections in order to cast his vote. The letter also stated that it is therefore requested that the necessary arrangements should be made to produce MNA Syed Khursheed Shah on the polling day of the Senate elections, scheduled to be held on March 3.

“I hope your office will immediately do the needful arrangements in this regard and assure that Syed Khursheed Shah is not deprived of his democratic right to vote,” the letter elaborated.