Faisal Vawda
Member of Senate of Pakistan
In office
12 March 2021 – 9 February 2022
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
ConstituencySindh
Federal Minister for Water Resources
In office
5 October 2018 – 3 March 2021
PresidentArif Alvi
Prime MinisterImran Khan
Succeeded byMoonis Elahi
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
13 August 2018 – 3 March 2021
Succeeded byQadir Mandokhail
ConstituencyNA-249 (Karachi West-II)
Personal details
Born (1973-10-21) 21 October 1973 (age 50)
Illinois, United States
NationalityAmerican, Pakistani
Spouse(s)Nazli Vawda[1]
Saadia Afzaal
​
(m. 2020)​
[1][2]
Children3[1]
ResidenceKarachi
OccupationPolitician, Businessman
Known forDefence against Karachi Chinese consulate attack

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.[11]

Assets

As of 2010, Faisal Vawda is owner of Faisal Vawda Group.[12]

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.[13]

In 2019, Saudi Pak Leasing Company Limited filed a plea against Vawda and his father for not returning the loan taken for business purposes.[14]

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.[15]

In early October 2021, Faisal Vawda was named in the Pandora Papers.[16]

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.[17] 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[18] and need answer for his press talk. On 29 October 2022 the PTI issued a termination letter[11] 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.

References

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