PTI Finalizes Nominations After Key Lawmakers Disqualified
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has finalized its nominations for both houses of parliament following a series of disqualifications of its senior leaders.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja confirmed that the nominations were made by party founder Imran Khan, saying the decisions had been formally settled. The move comes after three key posts in the National Assembly — Opposition Leader, Parliamentary Leader, and Deputy Parliamentary Leader — were declared vacant.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued notifications disqualifying several PTI lawmakers, including National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and Senate Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz. The disqualifications, made under Article 63(1)(h) of the Constitution, followed convictions handed down in cases related to the May 9 riots.
Other lawmakers who lost their seats include Zartaj Gul, Rai Haider Ali, SIC chairman Hamid Raza, and Rai Hassan Nawaz. In Punjab, MPAs Ansar Iqbal, Junaid Afzal Sahi, and Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal were also disqualified.
The disqualifications came after an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad sentenced several PTI leaders, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, and Zartaj Gul, to 10 years in prison. PTI MPA Junaid Afzal Sahi was sentenced to three years, while SIC chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, nephew of Sheikh Rashid, were also handed 10-year jail terms.
However, some former leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Zain Qureshi, and Khayal Kastro, were acquitted.
Others convicted in the May 9 cases include Rai Hassan Nawaz, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz, Farrukh Agha, Farkhunda Kokab, Kanwal Shauzab, Mohammad Ahmad Chattha, Chaudhry Asif Ali, Shakeel Ahmad Khan Niazi, Sardar Azimullah Khan, Mehr Muhammad Javed, and Muhammad Ansar Iqbal.
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