LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) faced a huge blow as the Returning Officers (ROs) rejected its founder Imran Khan’s nomination papers for the National Assembly constituencies from Lahore and Mianwali, officials of the provincial election commission confirmed Saturday.
Earlier, Imran Khan submitted his nomination papers from Lahore’s NA-112 and Mianwali’s NA-89 for the general elections to be held on February 8, 2024.
According to details, the returning officer (RO) was assigned to scrutinize the nomination papers of the NA-122 constituency. Mian Naseer from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had raised an objection against Imran Khan’s eligibility while referring to his five-year disqualification in the Toshakhana case wherein the electoral body had found him guilty of corrupt practices under Section 167 of the Elections Act, 2017.
The objection also maintained that the proposer and seconder of the former prime minister did not belong to the same constituency.
Imran Khan received the same treatment for the constituency of Mianwali while facing the same objection.
Qureshi, Hammad, Zulfi, Swati Nomination Papers Rejected
Meanwhile, other key leaders of the party are also facing rejection issues, including PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmud Qureshi, Former Federal Ministers Hammad Azhar, Azam Swati, Zulfi Bukhari, and others.
The Election Commission rejected the nomination papers of Shah Mehmud from Multan’s NA-150, PP-218, and Tharparkar’s NA-214. Hammad Azhar’s suffered the blow for the constituency of PP-172.
Azam Swati’s nomination papers were rejected for NA-15, while the papers of Zulfi Bukhari were rejected on account of fake signatures. However, his lawyer termed the move as ridiculous, adding that the signatures were counter-signed by the oath commission.
