Bilawal needs to give affidavit about his candidature: ex-ECP secy

LAHORE: Former Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Kunwar Dilshad said Friday under Section 203 of the Election Act a candidate of one party cannot contest the election on the platform of another party.

Talking to "Jang", Kunwar Dilshad said this is possible only when the two parties have formed an election alliance under Section 215 of the Election Act.

Former secretary ECP said Bilawal Bhutto will have to submit an affidavit before the Election Commission in response to the objection raised against him in NA-127. He will submit he should not be considered a candidate of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians, but a candidate of Pakistan People's Party. This can remove the objection raised against his candidature, he said.

Kunwar Dilshad said such a situation had arisen in the past when former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, in his ruling on February 21, 2018, said Nawaz Sharif cannot remain the party president. Nawaz Sharif at that time had signed party tickets for the election as a leader. The party tickets signed by him were cancelled. The candidates who contested the Senate elections applied to the Election Commission with an affidavit saying they should be considered as independent candidates.

Former secretary ECP said Bilawal Bhutto's lawyers in response to the objection raised during scrutiny said the objector is not a voter of NA-127. He said under Section 62 of the Election Act, it is not necessary for the objector to be in the same constituency at the time of scrutiny.

Kunwar Dilshad said when Benazir Bhutto's government ended in August 1990, the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan amended the Representation of People Act 1976. This widened the scope of scrutiny, according to which any registered voter can challenge the nomination papers of a candidate across the country.

Former President Ghulam Ishaq opened this way by amending the Representation of People Act 1976. The Election Act 2017 was announced with several amendments. But, this provision was not amended, he said.

Kunwar Dilshad said due to amendment to the Representation of People Act, Benazir Bhutto, who was contesting elections from five different places, had to answer the objections. Benazir Bhutto contested against Ghulam Ahmad Bilour from constituency NA-1 Peshawar. Sahibzada Younis, who was a resident of Islamabad, raised objection to her nomination papers, he said.