ISLAMABAD: Raheela Magsi, the ruling party’s controversial candidate for the women’s reserved seat from the federal capital may be out of the Senate race for now, but according to her legal team, she will challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to disqualify her.

Just days before the about turn, Ms Magsi’s nomination papers were accepted by Returning Officer Syed Sher Afgan, who is also the acting ECP secretary. He had rejected the objection raised by PPP candidate Nargis Faiz Malik, who questioned the transfer of Magsi’s vote from Tando Allah Yar to Islamabad after the announcement of the election schedule.

The returning officer had said the ECP has already decided that Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act does not apply to the Senate elections.

The same position was reiterated by the ECP in a statement issued last week, but when the commission took up Nargis Faiz Malik’s application challenging the acceptance of Ms Magsi’s papers, the commission took the opposite position and asked her why her name had been deleted from the electoral rolls of Tando Allah Yar on Feb 16, before rejecting her papers.

Senator Zafar Ali Shah, who is acting as the counsel for Raheela Magsi, told Dawn that the reason for rejecting the nomination papers has not been mentioned in the order, which said that the reason will be recorded separately.

He said that no issue related to the transfer of a vote can form the basis for the rejection of nomination papers as the commission has itself stated in categorical terms that Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act did not apply to the Senate elections.

Senate aspirant’s counsel says ECP’s ‘U-turn’ will be challenged in court

“She (Raheela Magsi) has been illegally thrown out of the electoral race and the reasons for the rejection of her nomination appear to be political rather than legal,” he said.

Sources close to Ms Magsi told Dawn that the decision to reject her nomination papers will be challenged in the court of law on Monday (March 1) and that legal experts consulted so far had given her hope that she had a strong case.

Things are expected to become clearer on Monday, when the matter may be taken up by the court immediately owing to the paucity of time.

The PML-N has fielded Nargis Nasir as a covering candidate for the seat, and in case Ms Magsi is kept out of the Senate race, she will get a clear chance to win. Others in the running include Nargis Faiz Malik of the PPP and Bisma Asif and Shumaila Shahab of the MQM.

Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Muhammad Ashraf Gujjar of PML-N and Raja Imran Ashraf and Syed Zulfikar Ali of MQM are contesting the general seat from Islamabad. None of the candidates withdrew their nomination papers on Saturday, the last date for withdrawal.

Published in Dawn March 1st , 2015

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