Avoiding Disqualification: PTI Chief Imran Khan Opts Not To Contest By-Polls

Avoiding Disqualification: PTI Chief Imran Khan Opts Not To Contest By-Polls
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has decided not to take part in the by-elections.

According to sources, PTI’s former members of the National Assembly will contest by-elections. Moreover, the former members of the National Assembly have been directed to submit nomination papers.

Sources said that the former prime minister has instructed the former MNAs to commence election campaigns in their constituencies.

The by-election on the NA-193, Rajanpur constituency, will be held on Feb 26 for which the PTI had nominated Imran Khan as the candidate.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the schedule of by-polls on 33 seats of the National Assembly on March 16.

The sources said that Imran Khan withdrew his candidature in order to avoid his possible disqualification in the case about his alleged daughter Tyrian White which is being heard in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In his reply to the court, Imran Khan, who was a respondent in the case, told the court that he was no more a public office-holder and thus was not answerable to the court for allegedly concealing facts about ‘his daughter’.

 

Read also: Tyrian White Case: IHC Constitutes Larger Bench


 

On February 2, 2023, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided to constitute a larger bench to preside over a plea seeking Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan‘s disqualification for concealing his alleged daughter Tyrian White.

The petitioner, Muhammad Sajid, had maintained that the former premier had disclosed his two sons and not his alleged daughter Tyrian White in the nomination papers. He sought the disqualification of the PTI chief under Article 62(1)(f).

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq observed that Imran’s primary argument was that he was no longer a public office holder. The court also noted that the petitioner had challenged Imran’s 2018 oath.

The chief justice explained that he had recused himself from hearing a similar petition in 2018 but not on personal grounds.