The Election Commission of Pakistan Tuesday completed process of scrutiny of nomination papers of candidates for the upcoming general election while returning officers rejected the papers of some key political leaders including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The returning officer has rejected the nomination papers of Imran, Shahid and Ayesha Gulalai for the NA-53 constituency of Islamabad on the basis of some technical flaws.
The nomination papers of the politicians were rejected over violation of Section N of the affidavit, which relates to the contribution of a candidate in his or her own constituency.
According to the returning officer, the candidates failed to fill the affidavit as per requirements. The candidates have vowed to challenge the decision in the election tribunal on Wednesday (today).
Imran's nomination papers for NA-53 constituency in Islamabad were challenged earlier this month by Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party candidate Abdul Wahab Baloch, who contended that the PTI chief did not fulfill the criterion under Articles 62 and 63 on the issue of Sita White and her daughter Tyrian.
Imran's legal counsel Babar Awan appeared before the returning officer on Tuesday and presented his arguments over the objections to the PTI chief's candidacy.
Awan remarked that they rejected the objections against Imran seven times in the written reply submitted to the ECP a day ago, adding that all the objections are based on falsehood.
The returning officer, however, turned down the PTI chief's papers saying he had submitted an incomplete affidavit.
He said that the PTI chief had not filled a column in the affidavit in which he was required to describe his performance as an MNA.
The nomination papers of ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his covering candidate Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi were rejected by the returning officer for NA-53. The returning officer rejected their papers for not submitting complete tax returns with their documents.
The scrutiny of nomination papers to exclude ineligible candidates from the race started on Tuesday last, a day after ROs completed the process of receiving nomination papers from prospective candidates.
According to the revised election schedule issued by the ECP on June 8, the last date for filing appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers by the ROs is June 22. The last date for decision on the appeals by tribunals is June 27.
Revised lists of validly nominated candidates will be published on June 28 whereas the last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 29. The final list of contesting candidates is expected to be published on June 30.
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