The nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo Shah Mahmood Qureshi were approved on Friday, allowing him to contest in the upcoming general elections scheduled to be held on February 8.
Qureshi’s papers were cleared after the Election Appellate Tribunal conducted a hearing on appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination proposals by Returning Officers (ROs) in the run-up to the elections.
The PTI politician’s nomination papers were approved by the tribunal for NA-214 constituency in Sindh’s Umarkot town, while his son Zain Qureshi’s papers were also approved for contesting in the same constituency.
Meanwhile, a petition filed by PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan against rejection of his nomination papers for NA-18 was dismissed in Abbottabad.
However, he was allowed to contest the polls from NA-18 in Haripur.
The tribunal also allowed Babar Nawaz’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to contest the election from NA-18.
Both Ayub and Nawaz withdrew their objections against each other, after which their documents were approved.
Sindh PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh was also allowed to contest from NA-238. Another PTI candidate Arsalan Khalid’s papers were also approved from NA-241 after the tribunal heard his appeal.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has been granted conditional permission to contest elections from NA-241 constituency due to his dual citizenship status.
Tribunal judge Adnan Al-Karim Memon told Baig to submit an affidavit if he renounces his dual citizenship status.
“If the affidavit is proved to be false, then the victory will be annulled after the election,” the tribunal said.
A day earlier, several senior political leaders including Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Akhtar Mengal and Firdous Shamim Naqvi, among others, secured exemption from election tribunals as their nomination papers were accepted to contest the upcoming polls.
Hearing of objections filed against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers by election tribunals and courts continued on Thursday, during which various election tribunals approved the nomination papers of Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Rashid, Balochistan National Party (BNP) Chief Mengala and PML-Zia Chief Ijazul Haq.
