NA-162 by-poll: PML-N ‘dissident’ extends support to ticket holder
Chichawatni seat fell vacant when PTI candidate was disqualified on court orders
Chichawatni seat fell vacant when PTI candidate was disqualified on court orders. PHOTO: AFP
SAHIWAL:
Zahid Iqbal, runner up in NA 162 general election in 2013 on a PML-N ticket, on Monday announced his support for Tufail Jutt, PML-N ticket holder for the upcoming by-poll in the constituency.
The by-poll is scheduled to take place on September 19.
The NA-162 seat had fallen vacant after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Rai Hasan Nawaz was disqualified in May this year by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for misreporting details of his assets.
When a re-election was announced on the seat, the PML-N gave its ticket to Jutt, two of whose close relatives were elected MPAs from Chichawatni in 2013. Iqbal and one of his brothers then filed nomination papers as independent candidates, claiming support of the Arain and Gujjar clans. PTI allotted its ticket to Rai Murtaza Nawaz, a cousin of Hasan Nawaz.
On Monday, Iqbal announced his support for Jutt’s candidacy after a meeting with PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz. He said he and his supporters would canvas for Jutt and secure the constituency against the PTI opponent.
Earlier, Hamza Shahbaz said that the party would field Iqbal as its candidate in the election for the office of Sahiwal mayor. He said there was no division in the PML-N ranks and the party was united against the PTI candidate. “We will win the NA-162 by-poll the way we did in by-polls in Burewala and Jhelum,” he said.
Shahbaz said the only way to bring change in the country was through the ballot. “There are no longer any hidden doors to power that PTI chairman Imran Khan is looking for,” he said. He said Khan should move to a country in the African continent if he wanted to do politics with support of the establishment.
Shahbaz announced that he would soon submit a defamation suit against the PTI chairman for accusing him of involvement in planning of a riot in Model Town, Lahore, where several workers of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek lost their lives.
“Imran Khan has no shame. I’m sure that he will tender an apology the day a court summons him on the defamation suit,” he said. “He has been doing this for several years but this time we will not let him off the hook with just an apology,” he said. He said Khan needed to tender an apology to the people of the Pakistani for ‘fooling them on foreign dictation’.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2016.
Zahid Iqbal, runner up in NA 162 general election in 2013 on a PML-N ticket, on Monday announced his support for Tufail Jutt, PML-N ticket holder for the upcoming by-poll in the constituency.
The by-poll is scheduled to take place on September 19.
The NA-162 seat had fallen vacant after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Rai Hasan Nawaz was disqualified in May this year by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for misreporting details of his assets.
When a re-election was announced on the seat, the PML-N gave its ticket to Jutt, two of whose close relatives were elected MPAs from Chichawatni in 2013. Iqbal and one of his brothers then filed nomination papers as independent candidates, claiming support of the Arain and Gujjar clans. PTI allotted its ticket to Rai Murtaza Nawaz, a cousin of Hasan Nawaz.
On Monday, Iqbal announced his support for Jutt’s candidacy after a meeting with PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz. He said he and his supporters would canvas for Jutt and secure the constituency against the PTI opponent.
Earlier, Hamza Shahbaz said that the party would field Iqbal as its candidate in the election for the office of Sahiwal mayor. He said there was no division in the PML-N ranks and the party was united against the PTI candidate. “We will win the NA-162 by-poll the way we did in by-polls in Burewala and Jhelum,” he said.
Shahbaz said the only way to bring change in the country was through the ballot. “There are no longer any hidden doors to power that PTI chairman Imran Khan is looking for,” he said. He said Khan should move to a country in the African continent if he wanted to do politics with support of the establishment.
Shahbaz announced that he would soon submit a defamation suit against the PTI chairman for accusing him of involvement in planning of a riot in Model Town, Lahore, where several workers of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek lost their lives.
“Imran Khan has no shame. I’m sure that he will tender an apology the day a court summons him on the defamation suit,” he said. “He has been doing this for several years but this time we will not let him off the hook with just an apology,” he said. He said Khan needed to tender an apology to the people of the Pakistani for ‘fooling them on foreign dictation’.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2016.