PHOTO: AFP
The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s (SCP) directive to re-poll NA-19, Haripur brings the 17-month-long legal battle between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to an end. A three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja issued the verdict on Friday.
The controversy has been simmering ever since the constituency’s 500,000 registered voters elected their lawmaker in 2013. PTI edged out ten other rivals, with Dr Raja Amir Zaman sealing the deal with 117,000 votes.
The result—with a difference of 1,340 votes—was too much for Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s grandson and PML-N candidate Omar Ayub Khan to digest as he called foul and filed an application with the election tribunal. Omar challenged the results of 78 polling stations. He provided proofs of irregularities and demanded the tribunal de-seat the PTI leader.
The tribunal on December 31, 2013 suspended Zaman’s National Assembly membership and ordered re-polls in seven out of NA-19’s 437 polling stations. The PTI leader was quick to react. He filed a petition with the SCP, requesting the court to declare the selective re-poll null and void. However, the apex court turned the request down.
On January 29, 2014, the re-poll turned the tide for Omar, handing him a lead of over 500 votes. The ECP notified the Tareen scion as the new MNA, leaving Zaman hot under the collar. He was not done with the battle as yet. The PTI leader filed a review petition with the SCP – resulting in a 16-month legal tussle.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Zaman said the tribunal had overlooked important legal aspects in its decision.
“They should have conducted re-polls in the entire constituency. Instead they decided the fate of 437 polling stations with the result of only seven,” he said, adding justice has finally prevailed with the apex court’s judgement to re-poll the constituency.
Answering a question, he accused Omar of buying voters by paying them Rs30,000 a piece. “I am ready to contest polls and regain my seat,” he said. Appearing upbeat about the reopened battlefront, the son of former caretaker chief minister and senior politico late Raja Sikandar Zaman said PTI’s popularity was on the rise and the recent local government poll results were proof. “We will regain our seat no matter who contests polls this time on the party ticket,” he maintained.
When approached for a comment, Omar said the judgment was unexpected as both the apex court and election tribunal had ordered the seven-station re-poll.
“I had emerged victorious after due process,” he said. Citing a Gujranwala constituency’s example where selective re-polls have been ordered, former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan’s son said there were numerous examples of this kind. “I will wait for my copy of the judgment before deciding the next step,” he maintained. Constituency politics proved to be a bumpy road for Omar. After serving in the Shaukat Aziz cabinet from 2002 to 2008, he lost the seat to PML-N’s Sardar Mushtaq Khan.
“I initiated development projects worth billions and the people of my constituency have faith in me,” he said, hoping for a landslide victory in the upcoming all-out re-poll.
Rehana’s Tareens and Khanpur’s Rajgans have been arch-rivals, contesting polls against each other over the last five decades.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2015.
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