The third contestant's petition filed in the Sindh High Court election appellant tribunal was dismissed on Monday.
The by-elections, slated for November 29, were announced in the constituency after Shah's maternal uncle MPA Abdul Nabi Shah resigned from the seat to give way to Shah, who has held the finance ministry and advisory portfolio. He was earlier barred from taking part in the May 2013 general elections due to his dual nationality.
Eight candidates, including Shah, Habibullah Rind, Roshan Ali Buriro, Qasim Bozdar, Nisar Ahmed Loond, Abdul Nabi Shah, Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi and Atta Muhammad filed the nomination papers. Four of them withdrew their candidature earlier while the returning officer (RO) rejected the nomination papers of Bozdar and Loond due to tax issues.
Both of them challenged the rejection in the tribunal, which on Monday upheld the RO's decision. Bozdar's charges against Shah's dual nationality were also dismissed. Meanwhile, the Sindh United Party's candidate Buriro, who also challenged Shah's candidature, withdrew from the contest citing the party decision. "The party's leadership decided that I should not contest the by-polls," he told The Express Tribune. It was Buriro who prevented Shah from taking part in the general elections last year.
Shah's counsel, advocate Farooq H. Naek, told the media outside the high court that Shah has won the seat historically held by his family. Shah's father, former chief minister Syed Abdullah Shah, was also elected from the same area. Talking to the media after the hearing, Shah avoided discussing his prospects of becoming the next chief minister. "For now, I would only like to accept congratulations for being elected as an MPA."
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2014.
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