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ISLAMABAD: An election tribunal bench in Rawalpindi overturned the decision of the election commission’s Returning Officer rejecting the nomination papers filed by Ayaz Amir belonging to the Pakistan Muslim league – Nawaz (PML-N), DawnNews reported on Wednesday.
Speaking to media after the decision counsel for Ayaz Amir, Salman Akram Raja lauded the decision saying its a landmark ruling and added that the verdict would bring to an end the mud slinging campaign that candidates engage in.
A Returning Officer (RO) of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had earlier rejected the nomination papers of the renowned columnist, who is contesting elections from NA- 60 constituency, ‘for writing against the ideology of Pakistan’ in his columns.
Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) leader Senator Farroq H. Naek filed an appeal with the election tribunal bench in Rawalpindi against the rejection of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s nomination papers from NA-51 constituency.
Returning Officer Khalid Arshad had rejected the nomination papers of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf after Raj Irfan Aziz, a relative of Raja Jawaid Ikhlas, had complained that Pervez Ashraf had been misusing his discretionary funds in his constituency which amounted to pre-poll rigging and showed his partisan approach and corrupt practices.
Similarly the Multan High Court decided on Wednesday in favour of accepting the nomination papers submitted by Faisal Saleh Hayat belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q).
Hayat had filed his nomination papers to contest elections from his hometown constituency NA-88 in Jhang, Punjab which were earlier rejected over allegations of electricity and irrigation water theft.
In related news, former military rulerPervez Musharraf filed for appeal against the decision of the ECP’s RO to reject his nomination papers filed for the NA-250 seat in Karachi.
The ROs in Karachi, Islamabad and Kasur had rejected Gen Musharraf’s papers on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution for his act of imposing emergency in the country in November 2007 in violation of the constitution and for keeping judges of the superior judiciary under unlawful detention.
The ex-military ruler was also accused of not disclosing his source of income in his nomination papers whereas he has declared assets worth more than Rs760 million.
Besides lawyers’ bodies, Gen Musharraf’s papers had also been challenged by the candidates of various parties, including the PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami.
Moreover, the Election Commission of Pakistan issued the details of all nomination papers received for the upcoming elections according to which at least 27075 nomination papers were submitted by the candidates of the national and provincial assemblies seats.
The nomination papers of 3996 candidates were rejected on various reasons, whereas the nomination papers of 23079 candidates’ nomination papers were accepted.
Out of the accepted papers, 6850 were submitted for the provincial assembly while 16229 were submitted for national assembly seats.
Similarly, Balochistan High Court Judges Justice Naeem Afghan and Justice Mohammad Noor, members of the election tribunal bench, heard appeals of ten candidates and reserved their verdict, while accepting ten more appeals to be heard by the bench.
Today is the last day to submit the appeals against the RO’s decisions to reject the nomination papers of candidates, whereas the ECP will announce the final verdict over the appeals on April 17.
The appeals are filed by members of various parties including PML-N’s Mohammad Khan Tud, Awami National Party’s Naik Mohammad Kakar, independent candidate Javed Ahmad, former speaker Jamal Shah Kakar and former provincial minister Faisal Shamil.
Dawn.com
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