LAHORE: The nomination papers of Maryam Nawaz for National Assembly’s NA-125 constituency were accepted on Monday after the returning officer announced the verdict in this regard and rejected all objections raised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid.
Yasmin’s counsel had raised several objections over the nomination papers of ousted premier’s daughter and highlighted bank loans, issuance of three passports and alleged hiding of assets. He had claimed that Maryam Nawaz had not declared her agricultural lands and provided correct details in her nomination papers.
The returning officer had reserved the verdict after hearing the objections and arguments of Advocate Pervez Malik, who represented the former premier’s daughter.
Malik, while rejecting the objections, had contended that his client had declared all details in her nomination papers.
It is pertinent to note that Maryam is contesting the elections from NA-125 constituency of Lahore where her mother Kulsoom Nawaz had won the by-elections in October 2017.
After a close contest between the candidates of the two rival political parties, Kulsoom, the former premier’s wife had won back her husband’s seat after his disqualification, defeating PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid.
The NA-125 seat, which was NA-120 before the fresh delimitations, had fallen vacant after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court on July 28, 2017.
In the 2013 polls, Sharif had contested and won the NA seat from where he was first elected during the 1985 elections under military ruler Ziaul Haq. Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other opponents of the military regime had boycotted the non-party elections.
