Islamabad: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced on Thursday it would contest the repoll ordered by election tribunals in two National Assembly consituencies.
Separate tribunals have disqualified two PML-N members of the National Assembly — Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who had was been elected from NA-122 consituency in Lahore and Siddique Khan Baloch, who won a seat from Lodhra constituency in the 2013 general elections.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had challenged the result in NA-122 where he was defeated by Ayaz Sadiq, who had become Speaker of the National Assembly, a post he has now lost.
A central PTI leader, Jahangir Tareen, had filed a petition against the poll result in NA-154 Lodhra.
A Lahore-based tribunal annulled the election of Sadiq due to electoral irregularities, followed by a similar vedict by another tribunal in the case of Lodhra constituency.
The PML-N leadership has decided to contest by-elections to be held in two constituencies, Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed said on Thursday.
Another federal minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said the ruling party would not seek stay orders against elections in these constituencies from the Supreme Court.
Iqbal, however, said the party would certainly seek legal remedies to keep the record straight. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will be the party candidate from NA-122, Lahore, the information minister said.
To a question, Rashid said the counsel of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is out of the country and an appeal would be filed in the Supreme Court against the Election Tribunal’s verdict, but no stay order would be sought.
“We have decided to go to the court of the people against the verdicts,” Rasheed said.
The information challenged Imran Khan to contest by-elections against Sadiq from NA-122 Lahore. Similarly, he said, Jehangir Tareen should contest by-elections from NA-154.
Rasheed said PML-N has defeated PTI in all by-elections, including the one recently held in Haripur in PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“We will defeat PTI in the coming by-elections as well,” the minister asserted.
Ahsan Iqbal, minister for planning and development, said PML-N would get more votes in by-elections than it secured in the 2013 general elections.
“Peace is returning to the country, the confidence of the international community is picking up and foreign investment is increasing,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal accused Imran Khan of trying to sabotage the process by hurling threats of street agitation, and said PML-N and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif believe in pursuing a reconciliation policy.
The PTI is demanding that four provnincal members of the Election Commission should resign because of failure to dischage their responisbility to conduct fair elections in 2013.
The party has said it would build up presssure by all means to make them step down.
