Pakistan
Pakistan Election Commission rejects nomination papers of former PM Abbasi, PTI chief Imran Khan
Pakistan’s Election Commission rejected the nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Dr Farooq Sattar, following the completion of the second phase of the electoral process on Tuesday, news organization Dawn reported.
The nomination papers of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, who sought to contest NA-247 (Karachi) and NA-1 (Chitral) seats, were also rejected in view of the Supreme Court’s recent verdicts.
For Imran Khan, his papers were rejected on technical grounds in two constituencies, NA-95 (Mianwali) and NA-53 (Islamabad), while Abbasi, his covering candidate Sardar Mahtab Ahmed of the PML-N and head of her own faction of the PTI Ayesha Gulalai were rejected for NA-53 during the second phase of scrutiny.
The candidates who have had their nomination papers rejected can now challenge the decision of the returning officers (ROs), who have been selected from the judiciary. The ROs have rejected the objection petitions against Mr Khan filed by Ms Gulalai and Abdul Wahab Baloch of the former chief justice-led Justice and Democratic Party-Pakistan on account that they were not registered voters in their constituency.
The Pakistan general elections will be held on 25th July, 2018. This will be the country’s second democratic transition to power.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Election Commission had placed a request for 350,000 military troops for the general elections, with increasing allegations of military interference taking precedence over the event.