The Supreme Court (SC) allowed disqualified Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker from NA-154 Lodhran, Siddique Khan Baloch, to take part in by-polls in the same constituency, Express News reported. According to reports, setting aside Multan election tribunal’s August 26 decision of putting a lifetime ban on PML-N candidate on contesting elections, the country’s apex court ordered re-polling in the constituency. Talking to media outside the SC, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate from Lodhran Jahangir Tareen accepted the top court’s decision saying his party wanted to take the case to the “court of people”. “We accept the decision of the Supreme Court and I will not comment on the order. However, the court’s decision has endorsed the stance of PTI regarding rigging in NA-154 Lodhran,” Tareen claimed. He added that his party will fight by-polls and will secure a historic win in the constituency.In response to a question, the PTI leader said, “We are still verifying the voters list and will soon go to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over the misplacement of votes in NA-122 by-polls”. Considering the media attention, the hype and excessive expenditure during the recent bouts between the two parties – NA-122 and NA-135 – the by election in NA-154 should be no different, especially since PTI heavyweight Jehangir Tareen is expected to contest. The PTI has lost the previous by election, albeit by a small margin, and would be looking to reverse the trend. This should be another closely fought by-election, which are increasingly being treated as proxies for the upcoming general elections. By-election usually gets more individualized attention, and the one in NA-122 and NA-135 shed light on breaches of the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP) Code of Conduct. The ECP has been abject in following up these complaints with actual disciplinary action. This by-election gives the ECP opportunity to monitor the procedure from the start and ensure that these breeches do not happen again; a strong precedent is needed. This is especially necessary as one party is extremely flush with cash and not averse to using it for political gain. The results of the local body polls may add more flavour to the by-election, but regardless of the result it is bound to be a close contest.
pk.shafaqna.com
