LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf will file a reference against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, seeking his disqualification under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution before the Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday (today).

PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid, who had contested election against Nawaz Sharif in NA-120, will file the reference accusing him of concealing his assets.

Advocate Anees Hashmi, who was PTI counsel in the NA-122 case, would represent the party in the court again.

To launch Panama protest drive after July 20

PTI central information secretary Naeemul Haq told this to media persons at an Iftar party hosted here on Thursday by the party’s media coordinator Dr Shahid Siddique.

Mr Haq said the party would launch protest campaign focusing on Panama Papers scandal after July 20 because PTI chairman was occupied with election campaign in Azad Jammu and Kashmir where he was scheduled to address public gatherings on July 17, 18 and 19.

Regarding the rift between PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and its former Punjab organiser Chaudhry Sarwar, Mr Haq said all differences between the two leaders had been resolved. “A few days ago both leaders had a one-on-one meeting for over an hour and later both informed me that they have resolved all (their) differences,” he said.

Regarding nominations in Punjab, Mr Haq reiterated there would be no party head at provincial level and that there would be four regions. The names of shortlisted candidates had been sent to party Chairman Imran Khan and nominations announcement was expected shortly, he said.

About Sindh, he said, party heads would be appointed in Karachi, Haiderabad and Sukkhar regions, while in KP there would be four regions -- Peshawar, Hazara, Dera Ismail Khan and Malakand.

It is learnt that the candidates for central Punjab region include Dr Yasmin Rashid, Umer Dar, Abdul Aleem Khan and Ejaz Chaudhry. For South Punjab, the candidates are: Noor Khan Bhabha and Ishaq Khakwani. For West Punjab, the candidates are Rai Azizullah, Rai Hasan Nawaz and Khurram Shehzad. In North Punjab, the candidates are: Amer Kiyani, Sadaqat Abbssi and Ghulam Sarwar.

When contacted, Dr Yasmin said the reference had been prepared and she would appear before the ECP, Islamabad, on Friday (today) to file it. Regarding her chances of being appointed central region head, Dr Yasmin said she did not believe in lobbying and it was up to the chairman to decide on the basis of candidates’ capabilities.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016