On Tuesday, the Lahore High Court invalidated the victories of two PML-N National Assembly members, who were elected from Gujranwala and Lodhran. Additionally, the victory notification for an Nankana MNA has been temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, Yasmin Rashid has challenged Nawaz Sharif’s win from Lahore.
Another PML-N member from Nankana Sahib had their victory announcement suspended due to a petition filed by their PTI-supported opponent. Simultaneously, imprisoned PTI leader Dr. Yasmin Rashid contested former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s victory in Lahore’s NA-130 constituency at the Lahore High Court election tribunal. On Tuesday, LHC Justice Shahid Karim issued an order against NA-81 (Gujranwala) MNA Azhar Qayum Nahra, accepting a petition submitted by the PTI-supported independent candidate, Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz.
The defendant’s attorney claimed that their client was initially proclaimed the winner by 7,791 votes. Later, upon request from respondent Mr. Nahra, the Election Commission of Pakistan conducted a recount, resulting in the client’s defeat with a 3,100 vote difference. According to the counsel, over 10,000 votes of the petitioner were invalidated during the recount.
He contended that the ECP breached the law by permitting a recount after the establishment of election tribunals to handle disputes. The attorney requested the court to annul the ECP’s contested recount order, asserting it to be unlawful.
Judge Karim pointed out that the ECP disregarded the Supreme Court’s ruling while ordering a recount. He inquired if this action amounted to contempt of court from the ECP’s lawyer. The judge emphasized that the commission could no longer handle election disputes complaints once tribunals began functioning.
Consequently, he granted the petition and annulled the winning notification of the respondent. Simultaneously, the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore High Court dethroned Abdul Rehman Kanjoo, the PML-N MNA from NA-154 Lodhran, and declared Rana Faraz Noon, backed by PTI, as the victor.
As per the statement made by Makhdoom Kalimullah Hashmi, the lawyer of the PTI candidate, the Lahore High Court bench has dismissed an intra-court appeal and declared the notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan concerning Mr. Kanjoo’s victory in the February 8th general elections as invalid.
Mr. Kanjoo, a former minister, has already taken the oath as a Member of the National Assembly during a session. In both instances, the runners-up from the polls are anticipated to be notified as the successful candidates, following the success of their legal pleas.
NA-133 notification suspended
On Tuesday, the LHC temporarily halted the victory announcement of PML-N’s Rana Arshad in NA-133, Nankana Sahib. Justice Shahid Karim granted this stay based on a petition filed by independent candidate Mohammad Atif, who was initially declared the winner with over 3,500 votes.
He argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan conducted a recount upon the applicant’s request, resulting in a 2,500-vote lead for Rana Arshad. Consequently, the judge suspended the notification and requested responses from the ECP and other involved parties.
Yasmin’s challenge
Through her legal representatives, Ahmed Awais and Rana Mudassir, the former Punjab health minister submitted a petition claiming that the ECP unlawfully issued a victory notification for Mr. Sharif. Earlier, on February 13, the LHC dismissed a writ petition by Ms. Rashid concerning Mr. Sharif’s victory, instructing her to approach the ECP.
On February 14, the ECP officially announced Mr. Sharif’s victory in the NA-130 election, receiving 179,310 votes. In response, Ms. Rashid has now filed an election petition at the tribunal, requesting to invalidate Mr. Sharif’s victory and declare herself as the winning candidate. She accused the ECP of manipulating the election results to ensure her defeat.
Balochistan speaker
On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan temporarily halted the victory announcement of Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai from PB-51, Chaman. This decision was made in light of the upcoming re-polling at 12 polling stations on April 21st, along with by-elections in 23 national and provincial assembly constituencies and a re-election in PB-51 (Qila Abdullah).
Concurrently, the commission declared Sadaf Ihsan as the successful candidate for the women’s reserved seat in the National Assembly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Her victory notification had been suspended earlier on March 4 due to a complaint from JUI-F, stating that she was not among the names the party had submitted for election to the reserved seats.
