Verdicts: Nawaz, Shahbaz and Imran cleared

Musharraf faces several objections from his opponents in both Karachi and Chitral.

MULTAN/ RAWALPINDI/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif’s nomination papers for NA 68 Sargodha-V were accepted on Saturday.

The returning officer (RO) of the constituency accepted the PML-N chief’s nomination after rejecting two applications filed against him. The two separate petitions had been filed by Sargodha-based lawyers Shahbaz Bajwa and Bakhtiar Ali. Both contended that the PML-N chief did not comply with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Giving his arguments before the court, Bajwa maintained that Nawaz never responded to allegations that he received Rs3.5 million from agencies to rig the 1990 elections. He contended that any news not disowned by the accused could be presented as documentary evidence. Responding to the argument, Nawaz’s lawyers maintained that he was never proved guilty in the Asghar Khan case.

Bakhtiar, meanwhile, pleaded that the PML-N chief was neither ‘Sadiq’ nor ‘Ameen’ since he fled the country after making a deal with then president Musharraf. He added that Nawaz had denied any such deal before the media, but later facts contradicted his stance. Bakhtiar’s arguments were termed baseless by Nawaz’s lawyers.

Saturday proved fortunate for the PML-N chief’s brother Shahbaz Sharif as well. The former Punjab chief minister’s nomination for PP 247 Rajanpur-I was cleared by the Election Commission. Shahbaz contested the 2008 polls from PP 248 Rajanpur-II.

Imran Khan’s forms accepted

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s nomination papers for both NA 56 and NA 122 were accepted on Saturday.

Imran’s papers for NA 56 were accepted after the RO heard objections raised against the PTI chief’s nomination by Khurram Munir, via his counsel Shujaur Rehman.

The NA 56 RO also accepted nomination papers for the PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi and PPP’s Chaudhry Iftikhar.

Meanwhile, the PTI chief was among six prominent candidates whose nominations for NA 122 were accepted after the constituency’s RO dismissed applications against them.

Musharraf’s electoral bid under threat

The NA 250 Karachi-XII RO has directed former president Pervez Musharraf to personally appear before him today (Sunday) for scrutiny. RO Ikramur Rehman also cautioned Musharraf that he would be disqualified in case he failed to appear.

Musharraf’s nomination has been challenged by several individuals, including Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Naimatullah Khan, Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui and Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed. His candidacy has been challenged on the basis of articles 6, 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The applicants cited Musharraf’s abrogation of the Constitution on separate occasions, the Lal Masjid operation and the killings of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti as actions that make the former president ineligible to contest polls.

The former president’s candidacy in Chitral seems to be in jeopardy as well. All 21 candidates who have filed forms for NA 32 have joined hands and filed separate applications to disqualify Musharraf on constitutional grounds. The constituency’s RO is set to decide the matter today (Sunday).

The former president had filed forms from Kasur and Islamabad, in addition to Karachi and Chitral. On Friday, however, his nomination for Kasur was rejected, followed a few hours later by his own decision to pullout of Islamabad.

Hina Rabbani Khar withdraws nomination

Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has decided to withdraw her nomination papers for NA 177 Muzaffargarh-II. Talking to the media on Saturday, Khar maintained she entered politics on behalf of her father Noor Rabbani Khar, who had been declared ineligible for polls due the graduate criteria instituted in 2002. She added that she had decided to leave politics for good and her father would be the PPP’s candidate for NA 177.

Khar’s candidacy had been challenged by Mehmood Ashraf, a Muzaffargarh resident and independent candidate for PP 225. Ashraf had maintained that Khar had shaken hands with non-mehram men during her tenure as FM and was thus guilty of violating the norms of Islam.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2013.