F.P. Report
LAHORE: Hectic legal activity is expected over next few days as several results of general elections 2024, showing PML-N candidates’ winners, are challenged in high courts, with opponents alleging that their defeat was a result of “rigging”, on Saturday.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) affiliated independent candidates have moved the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging the results of the PP-164 and NA-118 – where father-son duo, Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz secured victory.
In his petition, independent candidate Yousuf Mio, who contested against PML-N president, claimed that the returning officer (RO) did not allow the petitioner to enter the office. “The results were announced in the petitioner’s absence,” stated the application, urging the court to direct returning officer to announce the results as per Form-45.
“The court also bar the Election Commission from issuing the final result”, the petitioner said, requesting the court to declare form-47 results’ null and void. Meanwhile, Alia Hamza’s husband, whose wife contested against Hamza Shehbaz, challenged the result and noted that the PML-N candidate lost the election as per Form-45.
On the other hand, Dr Yasmeen Rashid also challenged former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s victory in Lahore’s NA-130 constituency in Lahore High Court (LHC). Another independent candidate Shehzad Farooq challenged Maryam Nawaz’s success from Lahore’s NA:119, while another PML-N winner Ata Tarar’s success in NA:127 has also been challenged in court by PTI-supported independent candidate Zaheer Abbas Khokhar.
Rehana Dar, mother of Usman Dar, petitioned the high court for recounting of votes in Sialkot’s NA-71, challenging the success of PML-N veteran Khawaja Asif in the Sialkot constituency. Furthermore, PTI backed candidates Shoaib Shaheen and Ali Bukhari moved Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the results of constituencies NA-47 and NA-48 respectively.
Talking to journalists, Shoaib Shaheen said, “We have requested the registrar’s office to schedule an immediate hearing. We urge the chief justice to expedite the case since all of Islamabad knows that NA-47 is my constituency. I have the Form-45. We have won this election with a significant majority.”
The PTI-backed independent candidate blamed the powers that be for “pressuring the returning officers.” He further added, “Today, you are replaying the crime you committed in the past. Now the only hope left is the judiciary.” According to the results announced by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry was declared victorious after scoring 102,502 votes while PTI-backed independent candidate Shoaib Shaheen got 86,396 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, an independent candidate, secured 17,916 votes.
Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, a joint candidate of the PML-N and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), won NA-48 (Islamabad-III) with 69,699 votes while Syed Mohammad Ali Bukhari stood second with 59,851 votes and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar third with 18,572 votes. The PML-N made a clean sweep after 16 years by grabbing all three seats of the National Assembly in the federal capital.
