ISLAMABAD: Former Election commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad has said that a candidate does not want to seem before the returning officer while submitting nomination papers or at some stage in scrutiny, The news reported Wednesday.
Dilshad’s statement came after it turned into suggested that the nomination papers of such applicants who are in hiding or declared proclaimed offenders are susceptible to being rejected if they do now not turn up before their relevant ROs upon summoning.
In line with phase 62 of the Election Act, 2017, the candidate isn’t required to be present at the time of scrutiny of nomination papers.
The former ECP secretary stated that an election order become issued by former President widespread (Retd) Pervez Musharraf in 2002, underneath which the candidate turned into required to be gift at the same time as filing nomination papers.
Dilshad said the election order turned into malicious and aimed toward focused on former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif so they could not appear before the returning officer.
He stated that during 2007, the ECP amended the Election Order 2002, and then Bhutto and Sharif did no longer need to submit their nomination papers and seem in individual on the time of scrutiny.
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“At the time of scrutiny of nomination papers, the candidate’s election agent, proposer and a voter who has registered an objection beneath sub-section (1) shall be gift. The returning officer shall supply him affordable possibility of scrutinising all nomination papers. Nowhere on this segment is referred to that the candidate need to be gift before the returning officer at the time of submission of nomination papers or scrutiny,” he introduced.
He stated it changed into a completely critical legal point that every candidate needed to recognize. He maintained that 32,000 nomination papers had been filed, which became a record. “With this, the communicate of snatching nomination papers of a few applicants became useless,” he claimed.
The scrutiny will closing until Saturday (December 30). As according to the ECP, appeals in opposition to acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed through January three, 2024, with the intention to be decided by means of January 10, 2024.
The Election commission will put up the revised list of applicants on January eleven, 2024, even as candidates can withdraw their papers by using January 12, 2024.
