RAWALPINDI: The nomination papers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi were cleared on Friday, allowing him to run in the February 8 general elections.
Qureshi’s papers were cleared following a hearing of appeals against the denial or acceptance of nomination submissions by returning officers (ROs) in the run-up to the election by the Election Appellate Tribunal.
The tribunal validated the PTI politician’s nomination papers for the NA-214 constituency in Sindh’s Umarkot city, while his son Zain Qureshi’s nomination papers were also authorized for the same seat.
Meanwhile, in Abbottabad, an appeal filed by PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan against the rejection of his nomination papers for NA-18 was dismissed.
He has, however, been permitted to run in the NA-18 elections in Haripur.
The tribunal also authorized Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Babar Nawaz to run in NA-18.
Both Ayub and Nawaz withdrew their arguments against each other, and their papers were approved as a result.
Haleem Adil Sheikh, the Sindh PTI leader, has also been authorized to run from NA-238. After hearing his appeal, the tribunal approved the papers of another PTI candidate, Arsalan Khalid, from NA-241.
Due to his dual citizenship, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has been granted conditional permission to run in the NA-241 constituency.
If Baig has relinquished his dual citizenship, Tribunal judge Adnan Al-Karim Memon has ordered him to provide an affidavit.
“If the affidavit is found to be false, then after the election, the victory will be annulled,” the tribunal said.
