By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif won a legal victory on Wednesday as a tribunal cleared him to run in next month’s general elections, while his rival Imran Khan suffered a setback with two of his nominations rejected.
Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, had faced objections to his candidature from NA-130, a constituency in his home town Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.
Sharif, who was ousted from office in 2017 over corruption charges and barred from holding public office for life by the Supreme Court, had faced objections to his candidature.
A lawyer from an unknown Pakistan Awami Mahaz party had challenged Sharif’s eligibility, citing a Supreme Court ruling that disqualified him from holding public office for life over corruption charges in 2017.
But the tribunal dismissed the appeal, saying the apex court had later ended the lifetime ban for lawmakers.
Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is also running for parliament from Lahore, also got the green light when another tribunal rejected an appeal against her nomination.
The development came on the last day to dispose of appeals filed against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers for the February 8 polls, which are expected to be a close contest between the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by former prime minister Khan.
But Khan faced a setback on Wednesday when two of his nominations, from Lahore and Mianwali, were turned down by separate tribunals.
The returning officers had rejected Khan’s papers on moral and other grounds, including his conviction in a case involving gifts from foreign leaders.
Khan had challenged the decisions, but the tribunals upheld the rejections.
According to the election schedule, the final list of candidates will be displayed on Thursday and candidates can withdraw their nomination papers till Friday. Electoral symbols will be allotted on Saturday.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
