LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has announced moving court against the Election Commission’s code of conduct that bars any public office-holder from taking part in the electioneering for by-polls in National Assembly constituency NA-120.

“The Election Commission has snatched political right of campaign in NA-120 for which the party will go to the court of law for getting the decision overturned,” Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq told the media outside Raiwind residence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif here on Sunday.

Lauding services of former first lady Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, contesting elections from NA-120 as PML-N nominee, for democracy and the party, he said she led the party at a time when it was under crisis after the military coup of retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Responding to a query about replacing Hamza Shahbaz with Minister Pervaiz Malik to oversee NA-120 election campaign, he claimed that Mr Malik had been made in-charge of Begum Kulsoom’s election campaign by Mr Hamza after internal consultations.

He told a reporter that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not going anywhere and the news report about his traveling to abroad for a medical check-up was baseless. “Mian Nawaz Sharif is fine and fresh so he’s not going abroad.”

Answering a question, the federal minister said the Raiwind residence of the Sharifs is the centre of politics for PML-N workers so they would come here to get guidance from their leader.

Talking about the press conference of former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar, he said Nisar did not create any hype in his presser. He denied any differences between Nisar and Senator Pervaiz Rashid.

About the NAB references against the Sharifs, he said the party had reservations over the cases and “we will announce our future strategy in this regard on the legal advice of our lawyers who are working on the issue.”

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017