A Pakistani election tribunal on Wednesday disqualified outgoing Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from contesting the general election from his home constituency of Murree for life, Dawn reported. The country is scheduled to hold its general elections on July 25.
The appellate tribunal at the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court disqualified Abbasi, who is a member of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, while citing that he had not disclosed the accurate value of his assets in his nomination papers.
Abbasi said he will challenge the disqualification. “I declared an actual value of my property at the rate which my father bought it in 1974,” he told local TV channels. “It is an election for the parliament. They have made it a joke.”
Abbasi is allowed to contest the election from Islamabad.
Other disqualifications
The Supreme Court on Thursday disqualified Daniyal Aziz, one of Sharif’s loyalists, from contesting the election for five years. Aziz was charged with contempt of court, Dawn reported.
The election tribunal denied Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Fawad Chaudhry permission to contest the polls from his home constituency of Jhelum citing the same reasons it disqualified Abbasi for.
Sectarian leader removed from terror list
Meanwhile, Pakistan has removed sectarian leader Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi from its terrorist watchlist. A proposal to allow his Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat to contest the election is still under consideration, Reuters reported.
Election schedule not in accordance with law, says report
A Pakistani news channel reported that the election schedule set by the Election Commission of Pakistan was in violation of the Election Act 2017. According to the law, election must be held at least 28 days after the revised list of candidates contesting the polls is issued, reported DawnNewsTV. The authority has set June 29 as the deadline for issuing the final list of candidates. This means the election will be held sooner than the required time – after a period of 26 days.
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