ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan today reserved its decision on an application to declare vacant Senate seat of former finance minister Ishaq Dar as he failed to take oath as a member of the upper house of the Parliament.
In Monday’s hearing, Ishaq Dar’s counsel Salman Aslam Butt appeared before the commission.
Member ECP from Balochistan said that there was an ordinance to declare the seat vacant if a member fails to take oath within 60 days of being elected. Salman Butt, however, told the ECP that the ordinance does not apply to Dar. He argued that he couldn’t have taken the oath as the Supreme Court suspended the notification declaring him the returning candidate.
Has Ishaq Dar been declared ineligible or not, asked member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Dar’s lawyer said that under article 63-P, one can not be declared ineligible under a law brought by the ordinance.
The clause regarding the ineligibility of an elected member for not taking oath within 60 days has been removed after the amendment, Dar’s counsel informed the ECP.
He said that the ordinance issued by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was illegal in itself, he said.
In 2018, Salman Butt said, the Supreme Court suspended the notification of Ishaq Dar’s election as a Senator. The notification was restored once the application was rejected, he claimed.
Dar’s lawyer requested the commission take back the notification declaring Dar’s seat vacant.
