The third phase of the general elections began today (Sunday) during which appeals can be filed against the returning officers (ROs) decision to reject or accept the nomination papers of the contesting candidates. The embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which suffered a major blow as the nomination papers of their top leaders failed to sail through the scrutiny process is expected to file appeals before the appellate tribunals against the rejection on “flimsy grounds”. Those candidates whose nomination papers were rejected can appeal the ROs decision by January 3 which will be decided upon by the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) appellate tribunals by January 10. Following that, the ECP will publish the revised list of candidates on January 11 and candidates contesting the polls will be allotted electoral symbols on January 13. Among 24 judges, nine judges will act as tribunals in Punjab, followed by six in Sindh, five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two each in Balochistan and the federal capital. Any candidate or objector will file an appeal – under Section 63 – against the decision of the returning officer rejecting or accepting a nomination paper to an appellate tribunal. “An Appellate Tribunal shall summarily decide an appeal filed under sub-section (1) within such time as may be notified by the Commission and any order passed on the appeal shall be final. (3) If the Appellate Tribunal is not able to decide the appeal within the time fixed by the Commission under sub-section (2), the appeal shall abate and the decision of the Returning Officer shall be final,” reads the section. On Saturday, the second phase of the elections came to an end after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) culminated in the scrutiny stage of the nomination papers on Saturday. The electoral body carried out scrutiny wherein it rejected the nomination papers of several political bigwigs mainly belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf (PTI) including former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi among others. The nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif were approved from Lahore’s NA-130, whereas the party’s senior leader Khawaja Saad Rafique and PTI leader Latif Khosa’s nomination papers were approved from NA-122. Former national assembly speaker and PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq’s documents were approved from NA-117 – the same constituency where his colleague Ata Tarar and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party’s (IPP) Aleem Khan’s nomination papers were also sanctioned. It is to be noted that former PTI leader Abrar Ul Haq’s papers were also approved for the NA-117 constituency. Meanwhile, in a major setback for the PTI, the ECP rejected the nomination papers of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan – from NA-122 and NA-89 – along with party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s nomination papers from NA-150 and NA-151. Meanwhile, Qureshi’s children Makhdoom Zain Qureshi and Meher Bano Qureshi’s nomination papers were also rejected by the electoral body in the same constituencies. Qureshi and his son Zain’s papers were also rejected from Tharparkar’s NA-214. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will contest from Lahore’s NA-127 after the relevant RO approved his nomination papers from the said constituency. PTI leader and former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid’s nomination papers from NA-130 were also rejected by the ECP, whereas Ejaz Chaudhry’s nomination papers failed to secure the ECP’s approval from NA-127. The party’s nomination papers filed by PTI’s Mohammad Atif Khan (NA-22) and Naeem Haider Panjotha’s – Khan’s counsel- from NA-82, also failed to get approval from the top electoral body. On the other hand, the ECP gave the green light to the nomination papers of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif from NA-123 and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi from NA-149. IPP patron-in-chief Jehangir Tareen and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Ali Musa Gilani’s documents from NA-149 and NA-151, respectively, were approved by the ECP. Also, former PML-N leader and ex-interior minister Chaudhry Nisar – who parted ways with the Nawaz-led party a few years back – got his nomination papers approved from NA-53 where he is set to compete with his former party’s Engineer Qamar Ul Islam along with 29 other candidates whose nomination papers have been approved by the ECP. Also, Ghulam Sarwar Khan – a former PTI leader – will contest from the said constituency after getting his documents approved by the top electoral body. Additionally, PML-N’s Khurram Dastagir and Daniyal Aziz – along with his wife – got their nomination papers approved from NA-78 and NA-75, respectively. The nomination papers of Nabeel Gabol, Nadir Gabol, and Sharjeel Goplani were approved from Karachi’s NA-239. From NA-148 Multan, the RO approved the nominations of PTI’s Senator Aon Abbas Buppi, PPP leader and ex-prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani along with PML-N’s Ahmed Hussain Dehar and Sikandar Hayat Bosan. The nomination paper of Awami National Party (ANP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) President Aimal Wali Khan was also approved from NA-25 Charsadda. PML-N leader leader Abid Sher Ali is likely to contest polls from Faisalabad’s NA-102 after securing approval of his nomination papers. Meanwhile, in a boost to PTI, Salman Akram Raja and former education minister Shafqat Mehmood’s nomination papers were approved from NA-128. From NA-44, ECP rejected PTI’s Ali Amin Gandapur’s documents – a decision the politician has announced to challenge in the high court tomorrow. For provincial assembly seats, PTI’s Mohammad Atif Khan’s nomination papers were rejected from PP-218 and Naeem Panjotha from PP-80 – the constituency from where PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz is likely to contest the February 8 polls after approval of nomination papers. From PP-172, ECP rejected PTI’s Hammad Azhar’s nomination papers, whereas it approved PML-N’s Rana Mashhood’s documents from the said constituency along with PTI’s Azam Niazi and Bajash Niazi. From PP-218, PTI’s detained Vice Chairman Qureshi’s nomination papers failed to secure ECP’s approval along with his children Zain and Meher Bano – whose documents were further rejected from PP-21 as well. Also, PTI founder Khan’s cousin Irfan Ullah Niazi’s nomination papers were rejected by the relevant RO from Bhakkar’s PP-90.