LAHORE: The nomination papers of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency were reportedly approved by the respective returning officer on Thursday, whereas separate decisions were reserved on objections to the nomination papers of PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and ex-premier Imran Khan in Lahore.

In NA-15, objections were moved against Nawaz Sharif by PTI leader Azam Swati through his representative Shahid Rafiq, a local party leader. The papers, however, were initially cleared by the RO after she rejected the objections.

The PTI leader argued that the PML-N supreme leader had been disqualified for life by the Supreme Court and added the RO was not authorised to approve the nomination papers. But Mr Sharif was cleared.

In Lahore’s NA-122 constituency, the nomination papers of ex-PM Imran Khan were contested on grounds of his punishment in the Toshakhana case. The objector said the court had only suspended the sentence, not the conviction handed out to the PTI leader in the case. It was claimed that the approver was not a voter in the NA-122 constituency, which meant that they could not become an approver.

ROs reserve decisions on challenges to Imran, Bilawal’s bids for Lahore seats

Mr Khan’s counsel contested the claim and said the approver was registered as a voter in the same constituency, but his name was removed from the rolls due to the new delimitation on Dec 15. The lawyer further said that the ECP could not punish anyone, adding that Article 62 and Article 63 did not apply to the former PTI chairman.

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In NA-127, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was represented by Irfan Qadir, who argued that the person who objected to the nomination papers of the PPP chief was not a registered voter in the constituency.

The returning officer reserved the decision after hearing arguments. Ali Qasim Gilani, Lahore PPP President Chaudhary Aslam Gill, and others were also present at the hearing. Mr Gill is the covering candidate for Mr Bhutto-Zardari from the constituency.

The PPP leaders believed that the RO would set aside the objections because the person who contested the papers was not authorised to do so under the election rules. They wondered how a resident of Narowal could object to the nomination of a candidate for a Lahore seat.

NAB, FBR reports

On the other hand, reports from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) related to various candidates, who have filed papers for NA-102 (Faisalabad-VIII) and other constituencies, have been received by the respective returning officers.

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According to a document, the NA-102 (Faisalabad) RO has received reports from the respective institutions about the nomination papers filed by Adil Rafi Cheema, Shahzad Karim, Umar Farooq, Shafat Ali, Changez Khan, Muhammad Latif, Khurram Shahzad, Muhammad Yaqoob Rashid Chaudhry, Javaid Niaz Manj, and others. However, the clearance reports related to the papers of Farrukh Habib and others have not arrived yet.

“The ROs in all constituencies sought clearance of the candidates from NAB, FBR, SBP etc. But the ECP is reluctant to talk on clearance-related information,” a source told Dawn on Thursday. A spokesperson for ECP (Punjab) was not available for comments.

Amjad Mahmood in Lahore and Nisar Ahmad Khan in Mansehra also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2023