Municipal politics: PTI candidates get show cause notice over withdrawal of nomination papers

Say they were under pressure from Khwaja Hassaan’s men

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday issued a show cause notice to its candidates for the office of chairman and vice chairman in Union Council 107 after they withdrew their nomination papers paving the way for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Khwaja Ahmed Haassan, the only other candidate for the chairman’s office, to be elected unopposed.

One of the PTI candidates alleged that he had been threatened by men related to Haassan into withdrawing his candidacy. He said he would move a petition against Hassaan in the Lahore High Court on Monday.

A PTI official said the show cause notices were issued to Nawaz Chaudhry, the candidate for UC chairman, and Rana Asghar, the candidate for vice chairman, after a meeting on Sunday afternoon between Punjab organiser Chaudhry Sarwar, Lahore organiser Shafqat Mahmood and Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mehmood ur Rasheed.

He said the notice asked the candidates to submit a reply within three days explaining their decision to withdraw their nomination papers. He said that their party membership would be cancelled if their explanation was not found satisfactory. Separately, the Discipline and Action Committee of the party was asked to probe the matter and present its report in two days.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Asghar said he had yet to receive the notice rty. He said the intra-party probe would help prove his innocence in the matter. He said he would submit a petition in the LHC (on Monday) seeking action against Hassaan for blackmailing and coercing him into withdrawing his nomination.

Asghar alleged that some men related to Hassaan had visited his house at around sunrise on Saturday. He said they had forced him to sign papers stating that he was willing to withdraw his candidacy for the office of vice chairman. He said the men didn’t let him contact anyone from his party.



At a press conference on Saturday, Rasheed endorsed the claim that PTI candidates had withdrawn their papers under duress.

Khawaja Hassaan dismissed the suggestion that men related to him had forced the PTI candidates to withdraw their papers. He said he was at the Election Commission of Pakistan office when he learnt about the withdrawal of papers by the PTI candidates. On hearing this, he said he had visited Asghar at his home to personally thank him for his decision.

Zaeem Qadri, a provincial government spokesman, said it was hard to believe that someone could be pressured into withdrawing their nomination papers. He said had the PTI candidates wanted to contest the election, they could have found a way out. Qadri said there was no need for an investigation against Hassaan. “They (PTI candidates) have brought forward no evidence to support their claim.

Hassaan had been elected as the mayor of the city in 1998.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th,  2015.