Nawaz Sharif’s electoral victory challenged in election tribunal

LAHORE: The electoral victory of former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 has been challenged before the Lahore High Court election tribunal.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Yasmin Rashid has filed a petition against Nawaz Sharif’s election victory through her lawyers, Ahmed Owais and Rana Mudassir. The petition argues that the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a notification in violation of the law regarding Nawaz Sharif’s win.

On February 10, Nawaz Sharif’s victory in Lahore’s NA-130 constituency was initially challenged in the Lahore High Court. However, on February 13, the Lahore High Court dismissed Yasmin Rashid’s petition against Nawaz Sharif’s victory.

LHC Justice Ali Baqar Najafi directed the petitioner, Dr Yasmin Rashid, to approach the Election Commission after hearing her application. Subsequently, on February 14, the Election Commission issued a notification regarding Nawaz Sharif’s victory.

During the elections held on February 8, Nawaz Sharif secured victory from Lahore’s NA-130 constituency with 179,310 votes, while PTI-backed candidate Yasmin Rashid secured 104,485 votes and stood second.

In a separate case, the Lahore High Court Election Appellate Tribunal has declared the victory of PML-N leader Azhar Qayyum from National Assembly constituency NA-81 Gujranwala as null and void.

Justice Shahid Kareem of the Lahore High Court Election Appellate Tribunal heard the request of Sunni Ittehad Council’s candidate Bilal Ajaz Chaudhry on Tuesday. During the proceedings, Rana Usman Ghani and Sardar Latif Khosa, representing the petitioner, informed the court that Bilal Ajaz Chaudhry had initially won with 8,000 votes. However, later the counting of votes was revised, and the opposing candidate, Azhar Qayyum, was declared the winner.

Subsequently, the court reinstated Sunni Ittehad Council’s candidate Bilal Ajaz Chaudhry as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA).