They ain’t no technocrats: N-Leaguers’ Senate candidature challenged

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Two separate writ petitions have been filed against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates for Senate election on technocrat seats from Punjab, seeking disqualification of Raja Zafarul Haq and Professor Sajid Mir.

According to details, the petitions have been filed by two different independent citizens, who also had filed the objection before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Challenging his credentials as a technocrat, the plea against Haq has been filed in Islamabad High Court, in which the petitioner has challenged the ECP’s order regarding acceptance of respondent’s nomination paper for Senate election.

The application said Haq had not paid government dues of Rs 65,250 since November 30, 2012 and 65,250 rupees since 30 November 2013 on the date of filing nomination paper, which attracts disqualification under the Article 63 of the Constitution.

In a similar case, the second petition has been filed against Professor Sajid Mir in Lahore High Court.

Both the petitions raise serious questions about the failure of the Election Commission in discharging its duties under Article 218(3) in failing to do proper scrutiny of candidates as per Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Total three candidates are contesting for two technocrat seats of Punjab; PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq and Prof Sajid Mir and PPP’s Malik Nosher Anjum Langrial.

While talking to Pakistan Today, Haq claimed that he has paid all the dues before submitting nomination papers for Senate election. He further said that he falls in technocrat category as he has 16-year education and experience of a practicing lawyer. However, presently he is no more a lawyer but is a fulltime politician.