ISLAMABAD: All the contesting candidates, who are facing contempt of court charges or other inquiries and investigations, have prepared contingency plans to immediately nominate their close relatives to be in the electoral fight if disqualified or arrested.
None of them obviously wants to be out of the election politics particularly in their home districts otherwise their ensured that their replacements were easily available.
Due to fear of conviction or incapacitation, the fathers, brothers, sons, daughters and other blood relatives of such contenders had already filed the nomination papers as their covering candidates. Even after the passage of the last date for withdrawal of candidatures, they preferred to remain in the race so that they are not caught off guard in case of sudden emergence of adverse situations. They would have been in the lurch had they not available their substitutes because the time of filing nomination papers has already passed.
As the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member of the National Assembly, Sheikh Wasim, who is contesting from NA-137 Kasur on its ticket, was convicted by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on the contempt charge for his anti-judiciary remarks, his son, who had filed his candidacy papers for the same constituency, became the party’s nominee.
Similarly, as firebrand PML-N leader and former federal minister Daniyal Aziz was declared ineligible by the Supreme Court for its contempt, his wife replaced him as the National Assembly candidate from Narowal. His father Anwar Aziz had also submitted his papers for the federal seat.
The close relatives of another ex-federal minister Tallal Chaudhry, who is also facing contempt of court case at the apex court, have also submitted their candidacy papers from the same Faisalabad constituency of the National Assembly as his covering contenders. The judgment is being awaited in his case, which is nearing completion. His plea to defer and fix the proceedings after the July 25 polls has been turned down by the top court.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was disqualified for life under the Constitution by the one-man election tribunal of the LHC and thrown out of the electoral scramble from his traditional constituency of NA-57 Murree, has declared that his wife would replace him if he did not get relief from the two-member LHC bench. However, a division bench of the LHC overturned this verdict on Friday.
Although ex-Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has filed his apology in the contempt of court case being heard by the LHC for his remarks about Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, he has also prepared the “risk management plan” if he was also convicted. A couple of his close relatives have submitted their nomination papers from the same Narowal constituency where he is the candidate.
A number of PML-N leaders, who are being quizzed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on difference charges, have also their contingency plans in place although any person facing inquiries and investigations is qualified to stand in the polls. They are barred only when they are sentenced.
Two PML-N contesting candidates Saif Khokar from Lahore and Muddasar Nehra from Gujranwala who have never held any public office, underwent protracted questioning by the NAB in Lahore on Friday.
June 29 was the last date for the candidates to deposit formal letters from their political parties with the returning officers showing that they have been issued tickets by them. Even if they were unable to do so personally, their representatives were allowed to hand over their tickets to the election staff as was done by the minor children of Eng. Raja Qamarul Islam, arrested by the NAB, who is pitched against former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in NA-59 Rawalpindi.
With the conclusion of the process of depositing party nominations by the contestants, the picture about who is vying for which seat and which are the federal and provincial seats where political parties have not fielded candidates will become clear. It will also finally become evident who is pitched against whom and in which constituency.
Qamarul Islam has decided before his arrest that his 12-year son and his 16-year old daughter will run his election campaign in case he was detained by the NAB. They are being assisted by his brother.
Any candidates of political parties, who will not be able to file their sponsorship letters to the returning officers, will be treated as independent contenders. Apart from others, PML-N President and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also been frequently summoned by the NAB in connection with various inquiries and probes. His son, Humza, has also appeared before the anti-graft watchdog for the same purpose. The NAB has also interviewed PML-N defector and former Punjab minister Zaeem Qadri.