Extensive scrutiny: Female candidate disqualified

ABBOTTABAD: A female provincial assembly candidate was disqualified by the concerned returning officer (RO) on Wednesday. According to election commission sources, former tehsil councillor Mussarat Tanoli was among 37 contestants from PK-46 Abbottabad III. She was running as an independent candidate. As part of the screening process, the returning officer called her for an interview. The RO asked a volley of questions on Islamic ideology, Pakistani sovereignty and the code of conduct for the elections, but Tanoli failed to answer even a single question. When the RO asked her about the funds she has allocated for the election campaign, Tanoli replied she has Rs78,000 in her bank account, but her supporters would bear the expenses beyond that. The RO rejected her papers. However, Mussarat Tanoli announced she would challenge the decision at a higher forum.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.