ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to contest by-elections in Lahore’s NA-122 and Lodhran’s NA-154 constituencies, the Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed said.
The election tribunals established for NA-122 and NA-154 gave their verdicts in recent days against the PML-N’s members who had earlier been declared winners after the 2013 general polls.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Muhammad Siddique Khan Baloch of the PML-N had won their seats from NA-122 and NA-154 respectively. But the tribunals nullified the election results of both the constituencies and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out fresh polls there.
The judgments of both the election tribunals came in response to petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against alleged rigging in NA-122 and the PTI leader Jehangir Khan Tareen who had challenged the result of NA-154.
Talking to media representative after high level meeting of the PML-N in Islamabad on Thursday, the information minister said that the party would not seek stay orders against elections in these constituencies.
However, he said that the party would certainly seek legal remedies to keep the record straight.
The minister said that Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who had later become the Speaker National Assembly, would again be PML-N’s candidate from NA-122.
Rasheed said that the counsel of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is out of the country and an appeal would be filed in the Supreme Court against election tribunal verdict but no stay order would be sought.
The federal information minister said that the party will not again go to the court of the people against verdicts of election tribunals in NA-122 and NA-154 cases.
Pervaiz Rasheed invited Imran Khan to contest by-elections against Sardar Ayaz Sadiq from NA-122 Lahore. Similarly, he said, Jehangir Tareen should contest by-elections from NA-154.
The information minister said that the PML-N has defeated PTI in all by-elections including the recently held in Haripur, and it would defeat PTI in the coming by-elections as well.
