PPP to move ECP over defections: Raja Riaz
17 February, 2013
LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz on Saturday said the PPP would approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take action against its members for joining the PML-N. Briefing media persons along with Shaukat Basra and other PPP leaders at the Punjab Assembly Secretariat here, Riaz said turncoats had taken the oath of loyalty to the PPP, but by joining the PML-N they were no more "Sadiq" and "Ameen" under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution which barred such persons from contesting the election. Interestingly, according to legal experts the PPP members had not violated the defection law, as they first quit the assembly membership and then joined the PML-N which was their right. Former PPP MPA Uzma Bokhari, who has joined the PML-N, told that it was strange that Raja Riaz was citing the law. Uzma said as a lawyer she knew the law better than the opposition leader. The ex-MPA said she and other members first quit the assembly seats and then the party. She said the floor crossing law did not apply to the members joining any party after vacating the seat of the party on whose ticket they were elected. Moreover, she said the PPP leadership was claiming to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan against its former MPAs, but what was its stance on the four sitting MNAs of the PML-N who had joined the PPP. Moreover, according to law experts after the 18th Amendment the defection law would now be applicable to the members of next assemblies. End.
|
