By-polls: 35 candidates in the run for Pindi’s two vacant NA seats

Polls in NA-60 were postponed due to conviction of Hanif Abbasi

RAWALPINDI: With by-elections on vacated seats and seats where general elections were postponed set for October 14, as many as 35 candidates are in the running for the two national assembly seats in Rawalpindi.

This is more than double the 16 candidates who were vying for the two seats in the July elections when eight candidates were running for each of the two seats.

By-elections are expected to be held for NA-56 Attock-II, NA-60 Rawalpindi-IV, NA-63 Rawalpindi-VII and NA-65 Chakwal-II in the Rawalpindi division. Of the provincial assembly seats, two Punjab provincial assembly seats are up for grabs in the division including PP-3 Attock-III and PP-27 Jhelum-III.

Elections for NA-60 had to be postponed after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and candidate Hanif Abbasi was arrested and then sentenced to jail for life in the eight-year-old ephedrine case, automatically disqualifying him from contesting the elections and the elections are postponed.

NA-63 fell vacant after it was vacated by its winner Ghulam Sarwar Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Ghulam had contested two seats, NA-59 Rawalpindi-III and NA-63. He won both seats during the July 25 elections, beating off competition from PML-N stalwart and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Ghulam had secured 89,055 votes in NA-59 and 100,986 votes in NA-63 as opposed to Nisar’s 66,369 and 65,767 votes for the respective seats.

In NA-56 Attock-II, it was a similar tale. PTI’s Tahir Sadik had contested two seats in the July 25 elections including NA-55 Attock-I and NA-56 Attock-II. He won both seats by handsome margins, gaining 145,168 votes in the former and 163,326 votes in the latter.

He opted to retain NA-55 where he had defeated PML-N’s Sheikh Aftab Ahmed by a margin of over 40,000 votes.

In NA-65 Chakwal-II, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had won by securing a whopping 157,497 votes, comfortably beating off competition from PML-N’s Muhammad Faiz Malik who could only muster 106,081 votes. Elahi also gave up his NA-69 seat as he retained his provincial assembly seat of PP-30 to become the speaker of the Punjab Assembly.

In PP-3 Attock-III, PTI’s Sadik — who had won it by securing 62,337votes — vacated the seat in favour of his national assembly seat.

In PP-27 Jhelum-III, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had narrowly won the seat by securing 67,003 votes versus the 65,237 votes secured by PML-N’s Nasir Mehmood. However, Fawad chose to retain his NA-67 Jhelum-II seat for the national assembly, which he had secured with 93,102 votes.

Of the 35 candidates vying for the October 14 by-elections in Rawalpindi, 24 candidates are in the running for NA-60.

These include Mukhtar Abbass, Dr Azhar Aslam, Syed Rashid Shah, Jamil Jabar, Attaur Rehman, Qaiser Dad Khan, Chaudhary Musadiq Ghuman, Sheikh Rashid Shafique, Sardar Anees Sultan, Muhammad Arif Abbasi, Chaudhary Nasir Abbas, Javed Iqbal Satti, Zaheer Awan, Aftab Ahmed Qureshi, Muhammad Asghar, Sajjad Khan, Aizaz Asif, Asghar Ali Mubarak, Tehmina Sajjad Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudhry, Arslan Aziz Jan, Raja Abdul Habib, Muhammad Ali and Zahid Aqeel. They have been cleared by the District Election Commissioner-I/Returning Officer Saleem Akhtar Khan.

Similarly, 11 candidates are in the running for NA-63 including Mumtaz Khan, Muhammad Shafique Khan, Mansoor Hayat Khan, Syed Haider Shah, Liaquat Ali Magray, Qurban Ali, Aqeel Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Khawaja Waqar Khan, Syed Ishrat Zaidi and Malik Umar Farooq. Their nomination papers were cleared by the district election commissioner-II/Returning Officer Naeem Ahmed. The notable omission from the lists is of Nisar who had lost during the general elections.

Candidates have been directed to adhere to the election code of conduct issued by Election Commission of Pakistan during the election campaign for by-elections with severe penalties spelt out for violation.

Saleem told APP that action in accordance with the law would be taken against the violators. He reiterated that public office holders cannot participate in the election campaign in any manner whatsoever.

September 8 was the last date for filing of appeals against decisions of the Returning Officer rejecting or accepting nomination papers.

Similarly, the last date for deciding appeals by the Appellate Tribunal will be September 13.

The revised list of the candidates will be published on September 14 while September 15 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidature and publication of the revised list of candidates.

Election symbols will be allotted to contesting candidates on September 16 and October 14 will be the polling day for the elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2018.