ECP clears ex-PM Gilani to contest Senate election

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday accepted former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Yousuf Raza Gilani’s nomination papers for the upcoming Senate election.

The ECP’s returning officer rejected a petition filed by Fareed Rehman, a PTI Senate candidate from Islamabad, who challenged the former premier’s nomination for a Senate seat.

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Yousuf Raza Gilani has been fielded as a joint candidate of the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from Islamabad.

The PTI candidate stated in his petition that the PPP stalwart concealed the facts in his nomination papers. He failed to mention his conviction in a contempt of court case back in 2012, the petitioner said.

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Arguing that Gilani didn’t fulfill the requirements as mentioned in Article-62 of the Constitution, Rehman pleaded that the PPP candidate’s nomination papers be rejected.

Meanwhile, the commission has completed the scrutiny of nomination papers filed by ten candidates vying for two Senate seats from Islamabad. Of them, the nomination papers of nine have been accepted while those of one rejected.