by Javaidur Rahman in The Nation, Dec 31, 2023
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE – The nomination papers of Imran Khan the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were rejected for National Assembly constituency NA-122 (Lahore) on Saturday. The returning officer concerned rejected the nomination papers while accepting the objections raised about it.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate and former MPA Mian Naseer had challenged the nomination papers of PTI founder in NA-122. He stated that Imran Khan was ineligible due to a prior conviction. He submitted that the seconder of Imran Khan did not belong to the constituency.
The returning officer had reserved the decision on nomination papers of Imran Khan after hearing arguments from both sides on Thursday. The RO argued that the court’s verdict in Imran’s conviction established that it was related to the offence, hence, he was subject to Article 63(1)(h) of the Constitution.
It is pertinent to mention here that nomination papers of Khurram Latif Khosa were also rejected from NA-122 constituency.
Scrutiny of the nomination papers filed by candidates for general elections-2024 concluded on Saturday.
The appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be submitted till Wednesday and decisions on these appeals will be made by the tenth of next month. The preliminary list of candidates will be displayed on the eleventh of January and candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by January 12. The electoral symbols will be allotted on the thirteenth of next month and polling for the general elections will be held on February 8.
The returning officers rejected the nomination papers of PTI main leaders including party founder Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Hammad Azhar, Yasmin Rashid, former speaker Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan, Usman Dar’s mother and others. The reason behind the rejection varied, with multiple issues like non-compliance with constituency requirements besides objections raised by opposing candidates.
On the last day of approval and rejection of nomination papers, various prominent political heavyweights faced approval and rejection ahead of upcoming polls.
On the other hand, the nomination papers of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Bilwal Bhutto were acceptance for their candidacy forms filed in Lahore. Nawaz Sharif nomination was approved from NA 130 Lahore. PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz also secured success as her nomination papers were simultaneously accepted from all constituencies in Lahore and Sargodha. Maryam Nawaz submitted papers for Punjab Assembly from three constituencies (PP 159, PP 160, and PP 165) in Lahore, along with one constituency (PP 80) in Sargodha. Whereas, former prime minister Imran Khan’s papers were also rejected from two national assembly constituencies in Punjab. His nomination papers were rejected for NA-122 Lahore and NA-89 Mianwali. From NA-89 Mianwali, Khuram Rokhari and Kahlil-ur-Rehman challenged Imran Khan candidacy, arguing PTI’s founder conviction in Tosha Khana case made him ineligible to contest general elections.
In response to the rejection, PTI legal experts announced that Imran Khan will file an appeal in the tribunal seeking nomination approval. Additionally, PTI’s vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi also faced rejection as his nomination papers were rejected for NA-151 Multan and NA-214 Tharparkar. The nomination papers of Zain Qureshi and Mehrbano Qureshi were also rejected from NA-150 and NA-151 respectively. However, papers of other prominent political figures from Multan like Javed Hashmi, Jahangir Tareen, and Aamir Dogar were approved in different constituencies…..
As the PTI’s candidates are comparatively on the top in the rejection of nomination papers by the country’s election regulator in the scrutiny process, the party aims to knock on the door of the concerned legal forum in coming days…..
The nomination paper of PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his son Zainuddin Qureshi, rejected due to non-appearance in various cases. PTI main leader Parvez Elahi’s and Moonis Elahi nomination paper rejected from his constituency with some objections on it. Likewise, former parliamentarians Asad Qaiser, Ali Muhammad Khan, Hammad Azhar, mother and wife of Usman Dar, Zartaj Gul, Qasim Suri, Amin Ali Gandapur, Murad Saeed, Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi, Malik Umar Aslam Awan, Malik Hasan Aslam, Khuram Latif, Haleem Adil , Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Khan Dreshak ,Zulfi Bukhari ,Azam Swati , Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Dr. Amjad Khan, Fazal Hakim Khan, Mian Sharafat, Salim-ur-Rahman and others were also not accepted, according to the sources. The final list of candidates throughout the country by ECP will formally be shared by the top election body on January 11, 2024.
The verdict regarding the nomination papers of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid from NA-56 has been reserved. The scrutiny was held again against Rashid’s nomination papers in NA-56. The verdict had been reserved after the completion of the hearing. The scrutiny period for candidates appearing in the 2024 general elections has concluded, resulting in the rejection of the nomination papers of a large number of candidates with the affiliation were rejected.
Talking to The Nation, former Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] Kanwar Dilshad said that although the nomination papers are rejected, still there is a proper forum to file appeals against the decision of the returning officers.
“Yes, a large number of nomination papers were rejected in the past history as even nomination papers former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Benazir were rejected with some objections,” said former secretary ECP, mentioning that the nomination papers of large number of candidates were later accepted by the concerned tribunal after filing the appeal.
When contacted PTI legal counsel Shoaib Shaheen said the ECP has been targeting only the candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI]. He said a large number of nomination papers by the candidates with the affiliation with PTI have been rejected with different objections. “We will surely appeal against the rejection of genuine nomination papers,” he said, arguing that the objections against the PTI’s candidates were mostly entertained by the ROs. He said they would fight against this political victimisation.
Political and constitutional experts viewed that the nomination papers in the past were also rejected over the questions by the ROs. Most of the nomination papers are likely to be accepted in the tribunal, they said…….
https://www.nation.com.pk/31-Dec-2023/pti-top-tier-jolted-by-rejections-ahead-of-2024-election
