Tag: Qadir Khan Mandokhel

  • Faisal Vawda no more a Senator, ECP disqualifies in Dual Nationality Case

    Faisal Vawda no more a Senator, ECP disqualifies in Dual Nationality Case

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Vawda as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) over his dual nationality at the time of contesting the NA election on a Karachi seat in the 2018 general elections.

    The commission said Vawda had submitted a “false affidavit” when submitting nomination papers.

    The ECP also declared him ineligible for holding the seat of a senator and ordered to withdraw the notification appointing him as senator.

    However, Vawda can approach the Supreme Court (SC) against the verdict, said the ECP.

    ECP had reserved the verdict on Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel’s plea seeking Vawda’s disqualification on December 23, 2021.

    During the last hearing, Mandokhel and Vawda had appeared before an ECP bench. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had asked Mandokhel whether he wanted to present more documents or give additional arguments.

    Mandokhel had said it was the 30th hearing of the case but he could not get the answers to his questions. The PPP leader had said, “ECP has been issuing warnings for the last one-and-a-half years.”

    Mandokhel was of the view that Faisal Vawda had held United States (US) nationality at the time of filing his election nomination papers. He said that the concerned residing officer (RO) was not punished as he had rejected his papers instead of disqualifying Vawda.

    The PPP leader said that Vawda had falsely declared in an oath to the ECP that he did not hold any foreign nationality. The PTI leader had concealed his dual nationality during the scrutiny of his nomination papers, said Mandokhel.

    Vawda’s counsel rejected the allegations, saying that his client had never applied for another country’s nationality. He said Vawda was born in the US and that his client had cancelled his American passport.

    After hearing the arguments of both sides, the ECP reserved its verdict in Vawda’s disqualification case.

    The News reported in January 2020 that Vawda was a dual national at the time of filing his nomination papers to the ECP to contest the 2018 general elections. Vawda submitted his nomination papers on June 11, 2018, which were approved by the election body a week later on June 18, the report said.

    However, the Vawda applied for the renunciation of his nationality with the US consulate at Karachi four days after his nomination papers were approved act on June 22, 2018, the report revealed.

  • ECP reserves verdict in Faisal Vawda’s disqualification case

    ECP reserves verdict in Faisal Vawda’s disqualification case

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reserved its verdict on a disqualification petition filed against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda.

    Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the petition filed against Vawda in Islamabad pertaining to his dual citizenship. Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Qadir Khan Mandokhel and Faisal Vawda appeared before an ECP bench.

    CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja asked Mandokhel whether he wanted to present more documents or give additional arguments.

    Mandokhel said today is the 30th hearing of the case but he could not get the answers to his questions. The PPP leader said, “ECP has been issuing warnings for the last one-and-a-half years.”

    On this, Raja said that the ECP will decide the case whether it gets the answers or not.

    Mandokhel was of the view that Faisal Vawda had held United States (US) nationality at the time of filing his election nomination papers. He said that the concerned RO was not punished as he had rejected his papers instead of disqualifying Vawda.

    The PPP leader said that Vawda had falsely declared in an oath to the ECP that he did not hold any foreign nationality. The PTI leader had concealed his dual nationality during the scrutiny of his nomination papers, said Mandokhel.

    Vawda’s counsel rejected the allegations, saying that his client had never applied for another country’s nationality. He said Vawda was born in the US and that his client had cancelled his American passport.

    As per NADRA’s record, Vawda’s US citizenship had been seized on May 29, 2018, said his counsel.

    The chief election commissioner inquired whether NADRA could issue a certificate that says an individual is a Pakistani citizen and not that of any other country.

    “How can NADRA know this? We will look into this matter,” said the chief election commissioner.

    After hearing the arguments of both sides, the ECP reserved its verdict in Vawda’s disqualification case.

    The ECP had adjourned the hearing till December 23 while directing Vawda to submit his arguments by this date.

  • Joint parliamentary session: All you need to know about what happened

    Joint parliamentary session: All you need to know about what happened

    The much anticipated joint parliamentary session on Wednesday left dark clouds over the future of the country’s legislation system.

    Number game of parliamentarians:

    The government needed a majority in the joint sitting of houses to pass bills where the total strength was 440 members.

    The party position in parliament showed that the treasury had a majority of just two votes if the two Houses were combined together. According to party position, the number of Opposition members in the 440-member joint House came to 219 against 221 treasury members, 221 members of the government and its allies were present with 213 members of the Opposition.

    Bills to be reviewed:

    More than a dozen bills were presented in parliament.

    The major bills: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Voting rights to overseas Pakistanis were passed in the absence of Opposition.

    The other bills include:

    The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill

    The Hyderabad Institute for Technical and Management Sciences Bill, 2021

    The State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

    The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2021

    Security arrangements:

    The in-house security of the National Assembly (NA) was made to stand in front of the Speaker dice to prevent the Opposition members from reaching the dice and cause a commotion.

    Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) leader Hina Rabbani Khar termed the situation as “martial law”.

    https://twitter.com/Hina_RKhar/status/1460907005141467141?s=20

    Ruckus in NA:

    During voting, things got heated up from both sides.

    In a video, PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel can be seen involved in a fight with the government representatives.

    The decorum of the House couldn’t stay still, copies of the agenda books were torn, pieces of paper were thrown at Speaker NA Asad Qaiser.

    A heated exchange of words took place between Qaiser and parliamentarians.

    Qaiser lashing out at the parliamentarians. “Stay within your limits, mend your way of talking.”

    Opposition walkout:

    The Opposition walked out of the House giving the government a chance to pass the bills. They argued that the Opposition’s votes counted were fewer than actual numbers and eventually walked out.

    Session now led by Senate Chairman:

    Speaker Asad Qaiser will no longer be chairing the proceedings after the passage of important legislation. Instead, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani will lead parliamentary proceedings.

    Reaction:

    Twitterati reacted to the heated situation in parliament.

  • Faisal Vawda case ‘a waste of time’, says petitioner

    Faisal Vawda case ‘a waste of time’, says petitioner

    Talking to The Current, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Qadir Mandokhel said that he has been pursuing a petition against Faisal Vawda for 2 years 9 months. “Now it’s just a waste of time.”

    Mandokhel gave the example of an illegal building and a petition against it. “Agar building hee masmaar kar di toh kya faida abb iska” (If the illegal building has been demolished, what’s the use of pursuing a case against it). Mandokhel is referring to the fact that Vawda is no longer an MNA but a Senator now.

    Mandokhel says he has high hopes from Sindh High Court where the petition on senatorship is still pending. Mandokhel says he wrote to the US Consulate but he was told by them that they do not reply to individual queries.

    Mandokhel says Vawda hasn’t submitted his reply and questions why. He also questioned why the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not doing much about this case.

    On Thursday, none of the petitioners appeared before the ECP, meanwhile, Faisal Vawda did.

    Vawda, while talking to senior journalist Matiullah Jan, seemed confident and said, “This seems more of a political case, and a political case has no standing. Everyone seems to have backed off for now.”

    “The ECP is fully looking into the details of my case and is also providing me with a lot of chances to my rivals. But my all rival parties have disappeared,” added Vawda.

    The ECP has three petitions related to the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Vawda, who is a former member of the National Assembly as well as a recently-elected Senator. The commission is yet to make a decision.

    Petitioners against Vawda contend that he had dual citizenship when he filed his nomination papers in the 2018 general elections, a fact that he had concealed at the time. Therefore, they say that he should be disqualified.

  • ‘Getting physical can never be justified’: Yashma Gill gives anger management tips to Firdous Awan

    ‘Getting physical can never be justified’: Yashma Gill gives anger management tips to Firdous Awan

    Actress Yashma Gill is currently working in multiple drama projects, her latest outing being ARY’s Azmaish opposite Fahad Sheikh and Kinza Hashmi. Yashma made an appearance on Geo’s Jashan-e-Cricket hosted by Shahzad Iqbal and during a segment of the show, she gave anger management advise to Firdaus Ashiq Awan post her tussle with PPP MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel.

    The Alif actress stated that getting physical in a tussle can never be justified no matter what the circumstances are. She further suggests some anger management tips to Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan that whenever she is angry, she should take a pause and a deep breath before reacting in anger. She also adds that one shouldn’t make a promise in happiness and at the same time shouldn’t make a decision in anger.

    Yashma made sure she mentions that Firdaus was triggered but still her actions aren’t justified.

  • VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan slaps PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel

    VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan slaps PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel

    A video of Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan slapping Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel has gone viral. The incident took place off-air after the two were seen brawling with each other on Express News‘ talk show, ‘Kal Tak with Javed Chaudhry’.

    https://twitter.com/Zohaib_Kibzai1/status/1402738011872321536

    In a verbal fight during the show, Mandokhel accused Awan of being corrupt, which led to a heated scuffle between the two. Firdous slapped Mandokhel after the argument.

    Awan claimed in a tweet that Mandokhel had used foul language which angered her, and that only a one-sided story was being shared in the viral video.

    She said that after consultation, legal action will be taken against Mandokhel.

    No statement has been issues by Mandokhel so far.

    Twitterati reacts to the slap

    Raza Rumi tweeted, “Is it a TV show or a madhouse with no warden?”

    “These are senior politicians. She is the face of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” tweeted another Twitter user.

    “She is taking advantage of being a woman. What if a man slapped her?,” read another tweet.

    https://twitter.com/mahey_nadeem/status/1402804442714476544