Poll body accepts Shahbaz's papers

The Election Commission yesterday cleared the candidacy of prominent opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The nomination papers of Shahbaz in a Punjab Provincial Assembly constituency in his hometown Lahore were accepted by the returning officer, EC spokesman Ghazni Khan said.

An advocate filed the papers on behalf of Shahbaz, who is living in exile in Saudi Arabia with Sharif. Objections against acceptance or rejection of papers of any candidate can still be filed with the appellate tribunals set up by the commission, the spokesman said.

The tribunals headed by High Court judges have to decide appeals of the aggrieved party by September 13 after which the final list of candidates in the general elections will be published.

There had been speculation that Shahbaz's papers could be rejected because of money laundering and loan defaulting charges pending against him in cases initiated by the government's National Accountability Bureau.

Tough new election laws brought in by President Pervez Musharraf ban loan defaulters from running in the polls.

Shahbaz, former chief minister of Punjab, and Nawaz's wife Kulsoom Nawaz have also filed their candidature for National Assembly from a Lahore constituency through their lawyers.