LAHORE: Bypoll in PP-147 today

Published January 26, 2003

LAHORE, Jan 25: Polling for byelection to the Punjab Assembly seat PP-147 (Lahore-XI) vacated by the PML-N will be held on Sunday.

The election commission had postponed byelections in PP-147 only a day before polling after the Jamaat-i-Islami candidate, Ameerul Azim, pointed out embezzlement of 5,000 ballot papers.

He had alleged that out of 130,000 ballots, only 125,000 had reached the returning officer concerned. A judicial inquiry into the embezzlement is already in progress while the Election Commission of Pakistan has completed its own probe.

Two main candidates are in the run for the seat after the withdrawal of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) man, Zaeem Hussain Qadri, in favour of JI’s Ameerul Azim. The ruling PML-Q has fielded Abdul Aleem Khan for the seat who had lost a national seat from Lahore in the October election.

The seat fell vacant after PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq chose to sit in the National Assembly.