The Supreme Court, just a day before polling stations open for business, has rejected Awami Muslim League (AML) leader Sheikh Rasheed’s request to contest NA-60. While the country will be voting their favourites into power, Rasheed will have to wait a little bit longer.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had deferred polling in the constituency when Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hanif Abbasi was disqualified because of the verdict handed down to him by the Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Court. Abbasi is looking at a life sentence for his role in the ephedrine case.
Rasheed, unmoved by the lack of competition — or candidates for that matter — petitioned the Lahore High Court (LHC) against ECP’s decision. The AML leader is of the view that polling should only stop if a candidate dies. While he is technically correct, the fact that he has no qualms about winning in such fashion is not surprising, to say the least.
The situation is a little unlucky for Rasheed — but it is only temporary bad luck. The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, after originally giving Rasheed some hope eventually decided against him. He has asked the veteran politician to stop pining for a walkover. In the long list of things that have gone wrong for PML-N and other parties right before the polls, this is step towards a fair election.
However, one should not expect things to improve significantly for PML-N candidates and workers once the elections are done and dust. Abbasi may not be able to wiggle out of the ephedrine case so fast — and Rasheed won’t wait forever. The walkover that cannot happen at the moment may be able to see its day sometime in the near future, especially if PML-N is unable to replace Abbasi with another candidate just as strong and influential.
Whether a PML-N candidate is able to eventually contest the polls or not is irrelevant – given his urgent need to hit the polls now, it seems that Rasheed doesn’t mind running a race that has no other contestants, so long as he wins. *
Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2018.
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