Daily Times

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s nomination papers for NA-130 were challenged on Monday after a petition was submitted before the appellate tribunal. Ishtiaq Chaudhry, the chief of Pakistan Awami Mahaz (PAM), submitted the appeal and asserted that Nawaz has been disqualified for life by the Supreme Court, rendering him ineligible to contest the elections scheduled for February 8. Chaudhry claimed that the returning officer (RO) approved Nawaz’s nomination papers contrary to the facts, hence, he prayed that Nawaz be declared ineligible and his nomination papers be rejected. Recently, the three-time prime minister returned to Pakistan’s political landscape with aspirations to participate in the 2024 general election. On December 26, RO Asghar Joya of NA-130 Lahore accepted Nawaz’s nomination papers after thorough scrutiny, with no objections raised. The former premier will contest against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Dr Yasmin Rashid and 22 other candidates for NA-130 if his nomination papers clear the latest legal challenge. The former premier was disqualified in the Panama Papers case in July 2017 by the Supreme Court (SC). The judges of the apex court had ruled that Nawaz had been dishonest to the parliament and the courts in not disclosing his employment in a Dubai-based company in his 2013 nomination papers, and thus, could not be deemed fit for his office. Later, an accountability court awarded him 10 years imprisonment in the Avenfield apartments and seven years in Al-Azizia references. However, he has been acquitted in both cases by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). However, before the general elections in 2024, the SC will resolve the contradiction between the judicial decision and the parliamentary legislation on whether disqualification under Article 62 of the Constitution means for life or five years.