Faisal Vawda Explained

Faisal Vawda
Office1:Member of Senate of Pakistan
Term Start1:25 April 2024
Constituency1:Sindh
Term Start2:12 March 2021
Term End2:9 February 2022
Constituency2:Sindh
Office3:Federal Minister for Water Resources
Term Start3:5 October 2018
Term End3:3 March 2021
Primeminister3:Imran Khan
President3:Arif Alvi
Successor3:Moonis Elahi
Office4:Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Term Start4:13 August 2018
Term End4:3 March 2021
Constituency4:NA-249 (Karachi West-II)
Successor4:Qadir Mandokhail
Birth Date:21 October 1973
Residence:Karachi
Spouse:Nazli Vawda[1]
[2]
Birth Place:Illinois, United States
Nationality:American, Pakistani
Party:Independent (2022-present)
Otherparty: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2010-2022)
Occupation:Politician, Businessman
Children:3

Faisal Vawda is a Pakistani politician who was the Federal Minister for Water Resources from 5 October 2018 to 3 March 2021. He has previously been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till March 2021. He was elected as a senator after winning in the 2021 Senate Elections on a seat from Sindh and held the seat until he was disqualified for being a dual national on 9 February 2022. He was a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from 2010 to 2022, when his membership was terminated by the party.

Political career

Faisal Vawda was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from the Constituency NA-249 (Karachi West-II) as a candidate of PTI in the 2018 General Elections. He received 35,344 votes and defeated Shahbaz Sharif.[3] [4] Following his successful election, a petition was submitted in the Sindh High Court seeking the disqualification of Faisal Vawda for not disclosing the details of his foreign bank accounts and properties in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan.[5]

On 5 October 2018, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan[6] and was appointed as Federal Minister for Water Resources.[7]

On 3 March 2021, the day of the 2021 Senate Elections, he resigned from his seat as a member of the National Assembly.[8] He became a Senator after winning in the 2021 Senate Elections and held the seat till 9 February 2022 when he was disqualified by the ECP for being a dual national.[9] [10]

His party membership was terminated on 29 October 2022 by PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Assets

As of 2010, Faisal Vawda is owner of Faisal Vawda Group.[11]

In 2016, NAB summoned Faisal Vawda for an inquiry pertaining to fraudulent allotment of amenity plots. A notice issued by NAB said that hundreds of amenity plots have been allotted to Faisal Vawda Group, a company owned by Vawda himself.[12]

In 2019, Saudi Pak Leasing Company Limited filed a plea against Vawda and his father for not returning the loan taken for business purposes.[13]

In 2020, the Federal Board of Revenue released its 2018 tax directory for parliamentarians which noted that Vawda did not pay any taxes. He later denied the allegations by posting his tax returns on his Twitter feed.[14]

In early October 2021, Faisal Vawda was named in the Pandora Papers.[15]

Termination

As a senior member of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf, Faisal Vawda held a press conference on 26 October 2022, where he talked about Imran Khan's azadi long march and disclosed party policy for azadi march.[16] According to the PTI, Faisal Vawda's press conference was against the party policy and he talked to media without notifying the party. As a result Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf issued him a show cause notice[17] and need answer for his press talk. On 29 October 2022 the PTI issued a termination letter[18] to Faisal Vawda undersigned the chairman of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan as he failed to respond to the party's show cause notice.

Notes and References

  1. News: Faisal Vawda's marriage with anchorperson Saadia Afzaal confirmed. 4 March 2021. 24 News HD.
  2. Web site: 2021-03-04. Faisal Vawda is Married to Anchorperson Saadia Afzaal Khan. 2021-03-09. Oyeyeah. en-US.
  3. News: LIVE UPDATES: PTI leads in election 2018 results . 4 August 2018 . www.pakistantoday.com.pk.
  4. News: Imran Khan's PTI on top as election results come in . 26 July 2018 . Geo . 26 July 2018.
  5. News: Petition seeking Faisal Vawda's disqualification filed in SHC The Express Tribune . 9 August 2018 . The Express Tribune . 9 August 2018.
  6. News: Reporter . The Newspaper's Staff . Six federal ministers administered oath . 6 October 2018 . DAWN.COM . 6 October 2018.
  7. Web site: Notification - 5 October 2018 . Cabinet Division . 6 October 2018 . 6 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181006235253/http://www.cabinet.gov.pk/userfiles1/file/noti-fm-mos-05-10-2018.pdf . dead .
  8. News: Vawda submits resignation from National Assembly in IHC, lawyer argues dual nationality case now 'invalid'. Dawn.com.
  9. News: Yusuf. Nausheen. 9 February 2022. Dual nationality case: ECP disqualifies Faisal Vawda. Geo Tv. 10 February 2022.
  10. News: Virk. Saqib. 9 February 2022. ECP disqualifies Vawda for life in dual nationality case. The Express Tribune. 10 February 2022.
  11. News: EGIBL's merger with Al Baraka challenged . 18 September 2020 . DAWN.COM . 22 June 2010 . en.
  12. News: Corruption case: Faisal Vawda summoned by NAB . 18 September 2020 . The Express Tribune . 25 August 2016 . en.
  13. News: Faisal Vawda summoned by SHC over unpaid loan . 18 September 2020 . Daily Times . 19 April 2019.
  14. News: Shahid Khaqan paid most in taxes; Vawda, Buzdar among lawmakers who paid none: FBR 2018 data . 18 September 2020 . DAWN.COM . 18 September 2020 . en.
  15. Web site: Shaukat Tarin, Moonis Elahi among over 700 Pakistanis named in Pandora Papers leaks. 2021-10-05. www.geo.tv. en.
  16. Web site: 2022-10-26 . PTI to issue show cause notice to Faisal Vawda over remarks about long march . 2022-10-31 . Daily Pakistan Global . en.
  17. Web site: PTI issues show-cause notice to Faisal Vawda for trying to 'damage long march' . 2022-10-31 . www.thenews.com.pk . en.
  18. Web site: 2022-10-29 . Imran terminates Vawda's PTI membership . 2022-10-31 . The Express Tribune . en.