LAHORE: While the nomination papers of various political heavyweights were accepted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was asked to submit a reply to the accusations that he was responsible for the death of army personnel in the Kargil war and he left the country after striking a deal in 1999.
In the first objection, petitioner Shair Awan alleged that Nawaz signed a deal with the Saudi government to leave Pakistan during the Musharraf government. He said Nawaz always claimed that no secret deal was signed, but later it was established that his departure was the result of an agreement. He alleged there were cases in anti-corruption courts against Nawaz Sharif but the then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif did not let the files open.
Another petitioner contended the Kargil issue was the result of politics and Nawaz Sharif was responsible for the soldiers’ deaths. Both petitioners prayed the court that Nawaz Sharif did not qualify under Articles 62 and 63 and his nomination forms be rejected.
Two other objections said Nawaz received money from secret agencies of Pakistan, according to the Asghar Khan case decided by the SC.
The court will decide the case on Sunday (today).
The fate of four applications filed against former CM Shahbaz Sharif will also be decided on April 7. These applications were filed in PP-161 and PP-159 seeking rejection of his nomination forms.
The first application said Shahbaz had no beard which was a violation of Articles 62 and 63. Another petition said two references of corruption were pending in Rawalpindi courts against Shahbaz. Another application said the former CM had not accomplished his commitment by removing unconstitutional and disputed clauses from the Punjab Drugs Rules 2007.
The fourth application claimed Shahbaz was not Sadiq and Ameen as he had failed to provide information on his sources of income.
The court sought reply from the PML-N leader on April 7.
Also, the RO reserved ruling on objections to the nomination papers of PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, PPP’s Zamurrad Khan and PML-N’s Chaudhry Sarfraz Afzal. The RO would decide about their fate on Sunday (today), the last day of scrutiny of papers.
However, the ECP accepted nomination papers of several heavyweight politicians and many others still await their luck to shine.
Among those whose nomination papers were accepted by the respective returning officers include Nawaz Sharif (NA-68), Shahbaz Sharif (PP-247, Jampur), Imran Khan (NA-56), Sheikh Rashid (NA-55), Maulana Fazlur Rehman (NA-24), Faryal Talpur (NA-207), Pervaiz Elahi, Ahmed Mukhtar (NA-105), Mahmood Khan Achakzai (NA-259), Ghinwa Bhutto (NA-250), Sumsam Bukhari (NA-145), Mian Aslam (NA-48), Arbab Ghulam Rahim (NA-229), Humayun Akhtar (NA-124), Manzoor Wattoo (NA-164, 167) and Hamza Shahbaz (NA-119).
The ROs also cleared the nominations of Fakhar Imam (NA-156), Bushra Aitzaz (NA-124), Mir Baz Khetran (NA-263), Aftab Sha’aban Mirani (NA-202), Zafarullah Jamali (NA-266) and Talal Bugti.
Nomination papers of Hanif Abbasi, a PML-N candidate for NA-56, were accepted on Saturday.
The RO accepted nomination papers of Ahmad Yar Hiraj (PML-Q), Abid Mahmood Khaga (PTI), Nishat Daha (PML-N), Aziz Latif Chaudhry (JI) and Dr Waqar Ahmad Daha (PML-N) for NA-157.
Chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, however, withdrew his nomination papers from Rawalpindi’s NA-56 in view of his pledge of support to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.
Others whose nomination papers were accepted were Ayyaz Sadiq, Akhtar Rasool, Saeed Elahi, Khwaja Salman Rafique, Naseer Bhutta and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed.
Meanwhile, former state minister Tasnim Qureshi of the PPPP was found to be a defaulter of Rs4,000 of Islamabad Electric Supply Company and the RO directed him to clear the dues.
Nomination papers of former state minister Ghias Ahmad Mela of the PML-Q and Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha of the PML-N were cleared after security from NA-65.
The RO also accepted nomination papers of former minister Ch Anwar Ali Cheema of the PML-Q, Shams Naveed Cheema of the JI, Dr Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti of the PML-N and Mumtaz Akhtar Kahloon from NA-67.
Nomination papers in respect of three candidates including Syed Riaz Hussain Pirzada, from NA-186, Muhammad Kazim Ali Pirzada, from PP-273 and Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal from PP-274 have been accepted.
Objections were raised over the All Pakistan Muslim League chief Pervez Musharraf nomination papers, filed in Karachi’s NA-250. City Nazim Naimatullah, also a candidate from the same constituency, in his petition said former military dictator had suspended the Constitution twice.
Also, the RO declared former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar a defaulter and directed her to present a clearance certificate by Sunday. Hina had filed nomination papers from NA-177 and scrutiny of the papers took place on Saturday. However, later on she decided not to contest the upcoming elections, Geo News reported on Saturday.
There were various others whose nomination papers were rejected on Saturday.
RO of NA-83 Amjad Ali Khan rejected the nomination papers of former federal textile minister Mushtaq Ali Cheema and his brother former city nazim Mumtaz Ali Cheema because of default on dues. Nomination papers of PML-N leader Sheikh Ejaz Ahmad Advocate were rejected from PP-68, as his LLB degree was found to be bogus. Another PML-N candidate Mirza Ashraf Mughal Advocate from PP-67 was also rejected due to his LLB bogus degree. Papers of former federal state minister Rana Asif Tauseef, younger brother of former district nazim Rana Zahid Tauseef, were rejected from NA-80 on the allegations of dues default. He failed to satisfy Returning Officer Imtiaz Hussain on allegations against him. The nomination papers of Sardar Dildar Ahmad Cheema, former MNA and MPA, were rejected from PP-66 as he failed to defend his case. Different ROs accepted the nomination papers of candidates including Sahibzada Fazal Karim, chief of Sunni Ittehad Council, from NA-82.
The nomination papers of former MNA Ijaz Virk were accepted from NA-83. The other successful candidates were Ilyas Jutt from NA-81 and his son-in-law Dr Nisar Ahmad, former MNA Mian Abdul Mannan from NA-83, former MPA Mian Ajmal Asif and others. The scrutiny of papers will continue on Sunday (today).
The nomination papers of PTI NA-93 ticket-holder Ch M Ashfaq were rejected on Saturday by returning officer Ziaul Qamar for being defaulter of lakhs of rupees of social security department against his fibre mills.
The RO accepted the papers of PML-N ticket-holder Junaid Anwaar after he produced a clearance certificate of paying Rs4.6 million for which State Bank had declared him a defaulter.
PPP city president Lala Asadullah Papa, a candidate for PP-92, on Saturday withdrew his nomination papers for being a defaulter of Gepco dues amounting to Rs11 million.
However, the papers of his cousin and former MPA Lala Shakilur Rehman, who was a covering candidate, were accepted.
Meanwhile, the papers of Imran Khalid Butt (PP-91), Tariq Gujjar (PP-94), Babar Mehr (PP-93), Farooq Othi (PP-96), Malik Ashraf Karim & Amin Butt (NA-95), and Barrister Adil Salim and Yousaf Shindhu (NA-97) were rejected.
The papers of PML-N former MNA Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, former MPA SA Hameed, Raza Hameed, Ashraf Ansari and Lala Shakeel were accepted. The cases of Imtiaz Safdar Warraich and Rana Shamshad would be decided on Sunday (today).
Magistrate Muhammad Asif again summoned the city police officer on April 8 to produce former MNA Mudassar Qayyum Nahra in the fake degree case.
Meanwhile, the court issued bailable warrants for witnesses, including Regional Election Commissioner Masroor Bilal and Prof Sami Azhar.
The court also issued show-cause notices to the Civil Lines SHO and the investigation officer to explain the reason why the accused and the prosecution witnesses were not produced despite summons.
The nomination papers of ex-MPA Pir Ali Raza and her covering candidate Ms Saima Raza could not be accepted during scrutiny on Saturday. Pir Ali’s opponents had filed objections. The returning officer will announce a decision in this regard on Sunday (today).
In Lahore, an objection was raised over the nomination papers of Khwaja Imran Nazir and he was charged with impersonation.
Petitioner Ayyaz objected to nomination forms of Ayesha Ahad Malik, contesting for NA-119, PP-141 and PP-142.
The returning officers accepted nomination papers of PPP Ghulam Murtaza Satti from NA-50, PML-N Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from NA-50, PTI Rashid Hafiz from PP-12, PML-N Haji Pervez Khan from NA-55, PML-N Sardar Naseem from PP-12 and PML-Q Raja Muhammad Basharat.
