Musharraf’s APML boycotts NA-120 by-election

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LAHORE: All Pakistan Muslim League (APML)—the political party of former president Parvez Musharraf—has decided to boycott the NA-120 by-election scheduled to be held on September 17 in Lahore.

According to details, APML awarded the ticket of NA-120 to Syed Waseem Shah, a resident of Lahore’s Wahdat Road area, to contest the by-polls, which has now become one of the most talked-about by-polls in the constituency politics of Pakistan.

Talking to Pakistan Today, the APML candidate Syed Waseem said that his party is registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), working in all parts of the country. “The election symbol of our registered party is ‘eagle’ but we have been allotted a ‘hand-pump’ instead, which is completely unjust,” he said.

He further added, “We have approached the ECP multiple times to resolve our issue but the commission did not pay any head to our concerns; therefore, we have decided to boycott the election.”

Now, when the ballot papers have been sent for printing, “it would not be wise for the party to contest the election on a symbol that we do not own,” he added. He was of the view that it was a pre-planned conspiracy to keep them away from the political process, as the banners and flexes of the party were removed by the government functionaries. He believed that all of it is being done at the behest of the Punjab government.

“There are thousands of supporters of Parvez Musharraf in the constituency, and the APML would support any other likeminded candidate on the polling day but the decision in this regard has not been made yet,” he said.

When contacted, the spokesperson of provincial Election Commission Huda Ali Gohar said that the ECP does not allot the party symbol if that party fails to hold an intra-party election—a pre-requisite to get the symbol. The filing of statements of accounts is also necessary to get the party election symbol, she added.

“The APML would have ignored these pre-requisites of the ECP, otherwise, there isn’t any possibility of not allotting them their election symbol,” she commented.

The APML was founded by former president and once Pakistan’s strongman Parvez Musharraf in October 2010.

The seat of NA-120 fell vacant after the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif—who also happens to be one of the worst critics of former president Parvez Musharraf.

There are 44 candidates running in the race to grab the NA-120 seat while 321,786 voters can use their right to vote.