Elections roundup: Don’t be scared, commando!

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“How can a commando be so afraid?” the top court asked while giving retired Gen Pervez Musharraf until tomorrow to present himself. CJP Nisar was unhappy with the former army chief’s indecisiveness to return home. “If Pervez Musharraf is a commando, he should show us by returning instead of continuously parroting like a politician that he will return,” the top judge challenged.

Right when PTI’s political head in KP Pervez Khattak may have been planning to earn his second turn on the throne, SNGPL spilt the beans before the ECP and informed that the ex-CM of KP owes over Rs180mn to the company. Not only Khattak, but ANP leader Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and PPP’s Hamid Saeed Kazmi are also on the list of ‘defaulters’.

PML-N’s Lodhran trump card, who secured an upset defeat over Jehangir Tareen’s son, has surprisingly decided to join PTI after his small tenure as a lawmaker from NA-161. Iqbal Shah, who had contested the by-poll as an independent candidate, is said to have been neglected by PML-N’s subgroup. Interestingly though, he received the PTI ticket after a meeting with his ex-rival Tareen.

“There’s nothing special in PTI chief Imran Khan’s 11-point agenda,” Farzana, leader of All Pakistan Transgender Election Network in KP exclaimed at a press conference. Farzana and her companions have urged the caretaker setup and ECP to make sure proper facilities including maximum security for transgender persons and their properties on the election day July 25. She added that 11 transgender persons will be participating in the polls, demanding their due representation in Parliament as well as equal rights for the community through legislation.

With the elections date nearing, the expectations of PTI from the caretaker government and ECP have piled up. ECP should remove NADRA chairman and take notice of the alleged leakage of sensitive information from the body, said a letter sent to the chief election commissioner by PTI Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry. The leading opposition party expressed its lack of satisfaction with the current arrangements, demanding of the commission to ensure the supremacy of democracy by reviewing the machinery being used.

PTI has started reversing and reviewing its initial list of candidates. While new names for remaining seats are yet to be announced, sources said, several issued tickets are likely to be withdrawn. It is expected that with the passage of time, there would be a number of changes in the final list of candidates owing to frequent criticism from various circles.

ECP may have refused to accept MML’s participation in upcoming polls, however, the candidates of the front have other options. It was earlier reported that JuD decided to contest on the platform of a “dormant” political entity named Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek (AAT) which is registered with the election body.