Omar Ayub not to contest NA-19 Haripur by-polls

HARIPUR: Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Omar Ayub Khan has opted out from the contest for the by-election in the National Assembly constituency NA-19 Haripur.
Through a statement on Saturday, he said that due to the illness of his mother, former MNA Zaib Gohar Ayub, he would not be a candidate in the upcoming by-election.He added that he would prefer to stay out of the by-election because his mother was seriously ill and needed extra attention and care.
Omar Ayub, a former federal minister, is the son of Gohar Ayub Khan and Zaib Gohar Ayub. He is the grandson of late President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan. Omar Ayub had won the election for NA-19 Haripur after defeating PTI’s Dr Raja Amir Zaman following repolling in some of the polling stations. Earlier, Raja Amir Zaman had been declared elected as the MNA.
However, on June 19, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court de-seated Omar Ayub in its verdict on the review petition of Raja Amir Zaman.While the PTI is going to field Raja Amir Zaman again despite the earlier rumour-mongering about Imran Khan’s wife Reham Khan becoming the candidate, the PML-N would now have to find a new contestant in place of Omar Ayub. The three prospective PML-N candidates include former speaker provincial assembly Major (Retd) Habibullah Tareen, former provincial minister Qazi Mohammad Asad and former chief minister Pir Sabir Shah. All belong to Haripur district and have their strong pockets of support in the constituency.