Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday has restored the membership of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Senator Ishaq Dar, following the directives of the Supreme Court (SC).
A notification was issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to restore Dar’s membership as a senator. The commission withdrew its notification issued on June 29, 2018, under which Dar’s membership remained suspended from June 2018 to January 2022.
The notification read that Ishaq Dar’s membership was restored from March 9, 2018.
Earlier in December last year, the top court had dismissed a plea from PML-N leader Ishaq Dar against his disqualification over his absence from court proceedings, further nullifying his stay order on his Senate membership.
The dismissal of Ishaq Dar’s plea will nullify a stay order obtained from him against a notification for his Senate membership, which requires him to take oath within two months or else his seat would be vacated.
A disqualification reference had been filed against the former finance minister Ishaq Dar with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Advocate Azhar Siddique to disqualify him as a senator.
Dar was elected as a senator on a technocrat seat from Punjab in 2018. He could not take oath due to his stay in London. However, the SC suspended his membership over his failure to appear in court on May 8, 2018.
