LAHORE: An interesting situation has developed in the by-polls for NA-133 after anomalies have reportedly been found in the candidatures of PTI candidate Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his covering candidate, Musarrat Cheema.

During scrutiny of papers at the Election Commission of Pakistan offices here on Thursday, it was found that the proposers of both Mr and Mrs Cheema were not residents of the constituency as required under the election laws.

Objections to their nominations had been raised by the PML-N’s advocate Naseer Bhutta and others.

Baffled at the anomalies, the couple requested the ECP to adjourn scrutiny of their papers until Oct 30 (Saturday). A spokesperson for the commission said their request had been accepted.

The ruling PTI will lose the by-polls without contest if the duo stands disqualified on the basis of the anomalies. It will almost give PML-N’s Shaista Pervaiz Malik a walkover in the electoral bout as the PPP, the third prominent party in the contest, could bag only 5,500 from the constituency in the 2018 general election.

The seat fell vacant on the death of the PML-N’s Pervaiz Malik, who had defeated PTI’s Ijaz Chaudhry, now a senator, with a margin of over 12,000 votes.

Polling for the seat is due on Dec 5.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2021