LAHORE: Objections were filed against the candidacies of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in NA-122 Lahore, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in NA-127 and PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz in PP-80 Sargodha.
As per details, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s bid for a seat in the 2024 general elections from NA-122 Lahore has hit a snag with an objection filed against his nomination papers.
Mian Naseer, a Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) candidate and former provincial assembly member, submitted the objection, citing Khan’s recent conviction as grounds for disqualification.
Mian Naseer argues that Khan’s conviction in the Toshakhana reference renders him ineligible to contest in accordance with Pakistan’s election laws. This latest challenge follows an objection raised against the nomination papers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also contesting from Lahore.
Similarly, a citizen has filed objection to the nomination papers of Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Lahore’s NA-127 constituency on Wednesday.
An application has been filed with the Returning Officer objecting to nomination of the PPP chairman.
“The election law has been violated as a person could be member of one political party under the law,” according to the application.
“Bilawal has shown affiliation with the PPP-Parliamentarians in his nomination papers,” the applicant said. “While the Pakistan People’s Party and the PPP-Parliamentarians are two separate political parties,” petitioner argued.
“Bilawal Bhutto has been chairman of the People’s Party and Asif Ali Zardari has been president of the Parliamentarians,” according to the plea.
“The People’s Party’s election symbol is ‘Sword’ while the Parliamentarians contest election with symbol of ‘Arrow’”.
It is to be mentioned here that Bilawal Bhutto’s nomination papers scrutiny for NA-127 constituency of Lahore will be held tomorrow (Thursday).
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also filed nomination papers to contest election from NA-194 Larkana and NA-196 Shahdadkot.
Meanwhile, objection was filed against the nomination papers of Chief Organizer and Senior Vice President of PML-N Maryam Nawaz in PP-80 Sargodha.
A Returning Officer in Sargodha has received a complaint alleging that Maryam Nawaz’s signatures on the nomination papers for PP-80 are forged. The objector claims discrepancies in her assets details and asserts that she has faced penalties in various cases. Therefore, there is a call to reject Maryam Nawaz’s nomination papers.
Speaker KP Assembly’s nominations rejected
On the other hand, the nomination papers of Mushtaq Ghani, the Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, were rejected.
The decision came after the Returning Officer for PK-45 Abbottabad found that Mushtaq Ghani was absconding and had failed to return despite providing a travel guarantee.
The Returning Officer stated that due to Mushtaq Ghani’s absence, his nomination papers were rejected. However, the papers submitted by Mushtaq Ghani’s wife, Farzana Mushtaq, were approved.
It is important to note that objections to Mushtaq Ghani’s nomination papers were raised by Fayaz, leading to the rejection of his candidacy for the election from PK-45. Mushtaq Ghani had originally submitted his papers for consideration in this constituency.
