Candidates brace for legal battles

Chart out plans to submit appeals against rejection of nomination papers

RAWALPINDI:

Preparations for the upcoming general elections entered yet another crucial phase as candidates whose nomination papers were rejected by the Election Commission announced to challenge the decisions before the election tribunal for Rawalpindi division.

Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former lawmaker Ijazul Haq, and former provincial law minister Raja Basharat have already decided to file appeals on Monday (today).

From January 1 to January 10, the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench is anticipated to serve as the hub for election-related activities. Candidates whose nominations were rejected at the scrutiny stage will have the opportunity to submit appeals until January 3, 2024.

Despite Sunday being a holiday, the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench remained open to receive appeals. However, none could file their pleas due to delays in obtaining copies of the ROs' decisions.

In the run-up to the elections slated for February 8, 2023, as many as 270 candidates for seven National Assembly seats and 652 candidates for 14 provincial assembly seats in Rawalpindi district submitted their nomination papers.

Read  Over 1,500 file nomination papers

Twenty-one ROs disqualified 66 National Assembly candidates and 149 provincial assembly candidates, barring them from the electoral process.

The disqualified candidates are now set to engage in a legal battle in the election tribunal to seek reinstatement into the election arena. According to the schedule, appeals against RO’s decisions can be submitted until January 3, with the election tribunal obligated to decide on these appeals by January 10.

Subsequently, the ROs will release a new list of candidates on January 11.

The Election Commission has designated two high court judges, Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf, as tribunal judges for Rawalpindi division. Pakistan Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has confirmed his plan to challenge the RO decision on January 1, stating that a petition has been prepared.

Candidates from Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, and Jhelum will approach the LHC’s Pindi bench.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2024