Jamshed Dasti to not run for elections

Former MNA says he does not want to be part of a feudal system.

MULTAN: Former MNA Jamshed Dasti has said that he will not run for the upcoming elections as he does not want to be part of a “feudal system”.

He announced his decision during a press conference in Multan on Wednesday. Earlier, there were some reports about Dasti’s brother running on his seat, but Dasti, speaking to Express News, said that no one from his family will run for elections.

Dasti has been accused of having a fake degree and a District and Sessions Court is expected to announce a verdict in the case on Wednesday.

Last month, Dasti had announced that he was quitting the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and will run for elections as an independent candidate. He had been elected from the Muzaffargarh NA-178 constituency in the 2008 elections and again through subsequent by-elections.

District courts and police across the country swung into action on April 2, awarding sentences and arresting former lawmakers and aspiring electoral candidates alike for submitting fake degrees or having dual nationalities.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the ECP and courts across the country to ‘ruthlessly scrutinise’ all contestants and also take action against former lawmakers with fake degrees and dual nationalities by April 5.