ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker, Fehmida Mirza, informed the Supreme Court (SC) that under Article 63-II, the National Assembly (NA) Speaker holds the authority to present a decision with respect to eligibility of a member of the NA.

She further stated that the Court also did not order to forward the “PM’s contempt case” straight to to the Election Commission. She said that the ruling given within the NA by the Speaker is to be deemed final.

The five-paged comprehensive answer, submitted by the Speaker within the SC on Monday, also includes a request to discharge the appeals, submitted by PTI and PML-N, against the Speaker’s rulings. Within the comprehensive answer, the Speaker has stated that the appeals were unconstitutional and that the PM’s eligibility issue was not lingered on; it was rather resolved within 30 days as mentioned within the constitution.

The answer submitted by the Speaker also states that the charges against PM Gilani do not relate to constitutional article 63-G or 63-H and as the charges are unconstitutional, the PM may not be considered ineligible.