Under duress: PTI to probe coercion claim as PML-N man poised for victory

PML-N’s Hassaan had already rejected the allegations

LAHORE: Rana Asghar, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI’s) candidate for the slot of the Union Council 107 vice chairman, on Saturday rejected the notion that he had backed out from approaching the Lahore High Court (LHC) on account of being coerced into withdrawing his nomination papers by a rival candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Asghar said Nawaz Chaudhry, the PTI’s candidate for the chairman’s slot and he had been forced to withdraw their nominations, paving the way for Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan of the PML-N to be elected unopposed.

While Asghar had earlier stated that he would move the LHC on Monday in this regard, he has now pinned the delay on legal technicalities. He said he had been in touch with party leaders to take up the matter legally. Asghar said the nominations had been coerced. He said he was seeking legal counsel to determine ways of pursuing the case. “We have not abandoned the case...we are considering all aspects of it,” Asghar said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed told The Express Tribune that their counsel would take up the instance during the scrutiny of papers on September 17. “If our request is turned down, we shall take to moving the LHC…our candidates were pressured and harassed. There is no way we are going to let this be,” he said.

While both Rasheed and Asghar have been aiming to take legal recourse, the PTI has been experiencing intraparty reservations over the episode with provincial organiser Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar issuing show-cause notices to both candidates on Sunday for failing to furnish a satisfactory reply.

Rasheed said he planned to raise the matter with party leaders. “Obviously there are rules and procedures that must be followed and the case investigated to dispel any notion of foul play,” he said. But Rasheed insisted that the candidates had been forced to withdraw their nominations. He said the handing out of notices would also be soon taken up with Sarwar. “I believe they have been victimised enough through coercion,” Rasheed said.

On the other hand, Sarwar said notices had been issued to authenticate the assertion. “I am not a person who will accept uncorroborated claims,” he told The Express Tribune. Sarwar said while the candidates had claimed to have been coerced by the aides of their rivals, they needed to provide evidence in support of their claim. “There is no doubt that the unopposed election of a mayoral PML-N candidate is a matter of concern for us,” he said. Responding to whether the PTI had suffered a major blow in the run up to the forthcoming polls, he said this alone was reason enough to thoroughly probe the case. Sarwar rejected the notion that this would further distress the candidates. The former governor has also instructed the party’s discipline committee to submit a report on the case. The committee has been given seven days to examine all facets of the case.

PML-N’s Hassaan has dismissed the claim. He has maintained that the candidates had voluntarily withdrawn their nominations.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2015.