Ex-Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani to contest from NA-158 Multan

MULTAN: Former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will contest in the upcoming general elections 2018 from the NA-158 Multan constituency (previously NA-154).

PPP leader has submitted his nomination papers to contest the elections.

Gilani previously, also served as the minister of tourism, minister of the housing and work force department. He was elected as speaker of the National Assembly during the government of Benazir Bhutto, in 1993.

After that he was elected into Parliament’s lower house in the 2008 elections and became the country’s prime minister.

He was disqualified by the Supreme Court in 2012 after being convicted of contempt of court.

Syed Javed Ali Shah of the PML-N had won from the constituency in 2013 general election, obtaining 80,650 votes. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Syed Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani of the PPP were runners up with 64,395 and 32,435 votes, respectively.

Veteran politician Javed Hashmi has also announced he would contest from NA-155 and NA-158. He claims to have the support of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Other prominent figures who collected nomination papers on Sunday include Haji Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Abdul Qadir Gilani and Shahzad Maqbool Bhutta of PML-N (for NA-154), Shah Mehmood Qureshi of PTI and Rana Shahidul Hasan of PML-N (for NA-156), Zain Qureshi and Ali Musa Gilani (for NA-157).

On the first day, 13 candidates collected nomination papers for NA-154, 14 for NA-155, 17 for NA-156 and three for NA-157.

Former PML-N MPA Amir Saeed Ansari collected nomination papers for NA-156 and PP-215, Muhammad Tahir Malik of PML-N for PP-213 and PP-217, district president of PML-N Bilal Butt for PP-214, Shaikh Tahir Rashid of PML-N for PP-220, Mazhar Abbas Raan of PPP for PP-218 and Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif of PML-N for PP-213.