- Once again, the ROs
During 2013 elections the Returning Officers asked all sorts of irrelevant and funny questions to gauge the depth of the candidates’ religious knowledge, using Article 62 as an excuse, till barred by the Lahore High Court from seeking unnecessary information . This time again the ROs seem to have been provided no uniform standard to examine the nomination papers. This has led to the rejection of the papers of some of the leading contestants that include former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PTI chief Imran Khan from NA-53 Islamabad. It was maintained that Abbasi had not submitted complete tax returns with his documents. It is difficult to believe that a man who has been elected six times to the National Assembly would submit incomplete documents. Imran Khan’s papers were rejected for failing to fill a column in the affidavit in which he was required to describe his performance as an MNA. This is surprising as papers of several legislators who never spoke a single word in the NA sittings have been accepted. Interestingly Khan’s nomination papers were validated by the ROs for NA-35 Bannu, NA-243 Karachi and NA-131 Lahore. There was a need for the ROs to be following a uniform policy in all constituencies. One hopes the Appellate Tribunals would undo the injustice.
A perception is fast growing that a particular party is being treated as more equal than others. The way a telephone call from Imran Khan led the interior secretary to remove the name of Zulfi Bukhari from the black list temporarily without even consulting NADRA has sent a message to the accountability body and bureaucracy that the PTI is to be treated as a favourite. The promise to reshuffle bureaucracy also follows a demand made by the PTI. The first woman to hold Punjab AGP office was removed from post because she was not acceptable to PTI. This has led LHBA to condemn the arbitrary removal calling it an “abuse of discretion and a blatant violation of due process”. Despite all these factors favourable to it the PTI remains perturbed over the outcome of the elections. The party is presumably upset over its failure to generate a popularity wave among the electorate.
