The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as the vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) political party.
A three-member bench of the ECP presided by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan said that the verdict will be announced on August 27, Geo News reported.
The petition was filed by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in May this year and contested that Maryam, the daughter of embattled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year sentence in Lahore jail, could not hold any party position. This is was a reference to the July 6, 2018, Avenfield corruption case in which Maryam was found to be guilty in the court of law. The case was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
However, the sentence in the high-profile corruption case was reportedly suspended by the Islamabad High Court later.
The PML-N leader had requested the ECP to dismiss the plea, arguing that there was no restriction in the Constitution and Election Act on a convicted person holding a party's vice presidency.
In a major party reshuffle earlier this year, Maryam was made one of the 16 vice-presidents of the party along with Hamza Shehbaz.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was appointed as senior vice president of PML-N, while Ahsan Iqbal was made the general secretary.