Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Wednesday, the Lahore High Court said that Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, could run in by-elections in the NA-108 (Faisalabad) and NA-118 (Nankana Sahib) constituencies, despite objections from the Election Commission of Pakistan and a PML-N candidate who wanted to stop Khan’s nomination papers from being accepted.
Justice Shahid Waheed of the LHC’s appellate election tribunal made the decisions on two separate appeals.
On August 17, the ECP said that Imran’s nomination for the NA-108 by-election was not good enough because “there were not enough details about his assets.”
“Imran Khan’s nomination papers were not turned down because of a problem with verifying his signature. Imran’s nomination papers were turned down because they didn’t have enough information about his assets “In a statement, the ECP said what the returning officer had said about why the decision was made.
Dr. Shezra Mansab Kharal, who was running for the PML-N in NA-118, had also questioned whether Imran’s nomination papers for the by-election should be accepted.
At the hearing in the tribunal today, Imran was represented by lawyer Syed Ali Zafar, and Dr. Kharal was represented by lawyers Mansoor Usman Awan and Khalid Ishaq. The tribunal overturned the ECP’s decision, denied the PML-N candidate’s appeal, and let the PTI leader run in the by-elections for NA-108 and NA-118.
Imran went to Barrister Zafar on Monday to say that the election commission’s decision was wrong.
In his appeal, Imran said that the returning officer had broken the law and ignored the facts by throwing out his papers. He also said that his papers for a by-election in another constituency had been accepted.
He had asked the tribunal to overturn the RO’s decision and let him run for office in the NA-108 by-election.
The National Assembly speaker accepted the resignations of 11 MNAs from the PTI on July 28. Nine of them were from general seats, and two were from seats reserved for women. This led to complaints from the PTI about how the resignations were accepted “piecemeal,” as well as a legal battle in the Islamabad High Court. On July 30, the MNAs were taken off the list.
The PTI lawmakers were some of the more than 100 who quit all at once on April 11, two days after Imran lost a vote of no confidence and was removed as prime minister.
According to a statement from the ECP, by-elections will be held on September 25 for NA-22 Mardan, NA-24 Charsadda, NA-31 Peshawar, NA-45 Kurram, NA-108 Faisalabad, NA-118 Nankana Sahib, and NA-237, NA-239, and NA-246 in Karachi.
Just hours after the ECP announced the schedule, Imran said he would run for all nine of the open seats in the Sept. 25 by-elections.
