ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday has decided to review the legal aspect of NA-154 by-election in Lodhran after the disqualification of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president. PML-N’s Pir Iqbal Shah had won the Lodhran NA-154 by-election with 116,590 votes, while Ali Khan Tareen of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stood second with 91,230 votes. Ali Mirza Baig of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) secured 3,148 votes whereas Malik Azhar of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) obtained 10,114 votes. Lodhran NA-154 by-election was held after Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) disqualified Member of National Assembly (MNA) Jahangir Khan Tareen in a corruption probe in January. Earlier, Supreme Court (SC) ousted Nawaz Sharif as president of PML-N in the verdict regarding petitions against Election Act of 2017. It said that a person who doesn’t qualify on Article 62 and 63 of the constitution can also not hold the office of presidency of any political party. “Ineligible person cannot hold the office of party presidency,” the court said. SC has also annulled all decisions made by Nawaz Sharif as the party head. The ruling party will now have to re-announce its candidates for the Senate polls that were scheduled for next month. The top court had also directed the ECP to remove Nawaz’s name from the column of party presidents. The Section 203 of the Election Act should be read with the Article 62 and 63 of the constitution, SC remarked. Published in Daily Times, February 24th 2018.