ISLAMABAD: Announcing its reserved verdict, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday rejected a plea seeking disqualification of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Faryal Talpur.

The ECP held that the petitioners failed to make a case for disqualification, as the respondent (Faryal Talpur) had disclosed her assets. It noted that disqualification requires material and concrete evidence, which the petitioner could not present.

A petition seeking disqualification of Faryal Talpur, a Member of the Sindh Assembly and sister of PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, was filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Arsalan Taj and Rabia Azfar. It was prayed in the petition that the PPP leader should be disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution as she had been failed to declare details of her assets before the ECP, which meant that she was no longer ‘Sadiq and Ameen’- truthful and trustworthy.

The petitioner had contended that Faryal Talpur owned properties in Larkana and Shahdadkot, which were not declared, besides she had been nominated in a case pertaining to billions of rupees corruption through fake bank accounts. Faryal Talpur was elected from PS 10 Rattodero constituency of Larkana during the 2018 general elections with 53,627 votes. He rival PTI’s Ameer Buksh Khan Bhutto managed only 37,665 votes.

Under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution, a person cannot be qualified as a member of the national or provincial legislatures if he is not ‘Sadiq and Ameen’ -truthful and trustworthy. Some provisions of Article 62 of the constitution were introduced into the constitution by military ruler General Ziaul Haq.