Fida Hussnain
The legal hurdle is still there in the way of Pakistan Peoples’ Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as decision of the Returning Officer on his nomination papers for NA- 127, a National Assembly Constituency in Lahore, for upcoming general elections is yet come. Advocate Iftikhar Shahid, the legal advisor of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, submitted response to the objection raised on his nomination papers before the returning Officer concerned.
“It was just an human error that Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) was mentioned in the nomination papers of Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” said Iftikhar Shahid while responding to the objection. Bilawal’s advisor said that the objections were raised by a resident of Narowal who is not a registered voter in NA-127. Emphasizing that the objector lacked standing in NA-127, the legal team argued that the matter pertained solely to the province of Punjab, as Bhutto’s nomination papers have already been accepted in Sindh. Bhutto’s legal representatives submitted that it was a clerical error in the nomination papers, arguing that the affiliation with “Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians” was inaccurately listed. The legal team led by Iftikhar Shahid also contended that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) are distinct political entities. Moreover, they presented the symbolic differences between PPP and PPPP, observing that PPP’s symbol is a sword, while PPPP’s symbol is an arrow. “This differentiation shows Bilawal Bhutto’s role as the Chairman of PPP and Asif Zardari’s position as the President of PPPP,” he argued.
Besides it, the legal team brought attention to a discrepancy in the Election Act of 2017, arguing that the provision made it clear that an individual could only be a member of one party at a time is being violated.
