Islamabad (June 28, 2018): Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday expressed concerns over his disqualification verdict and announced that he will “definitely” challenge the appellate tribunal’s decision.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, “The election is not a game. It should not be turned into a spectacle.” He, however, denied any possibility that the PML-N could boycott the elections, asserting that he really “does not wish for things to get controversial”.
“I have not switched any loyalties,” he said, adding that “How can anyone claim I am not sadiq (honest) and ameen (trustworthy)?”
“How can a decision be made without having heard the defendant’s argument?” Abbasi asked, adding that he will definitely challenge the election tribunal’s decision.
Earlier in the day, election tribunal in Rawalpindi disqualified former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from contesting the upcoming elections declaring that he is not Sadiq (truthful) and Ameen (trustworthy).
A single-judge bench, in its written order, noted that Abbasi was “guilty of concealment of facts and withholding of complete information from his voters”.
Declaring that he is not ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’, the tribunal stated that Abbasi was “not a qualified person to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) within the meaning of Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of Pakistan”.
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In his written order on the rejection of Abbasi, Judge Ibad ur Rehman Lodhi said that the former premier was “guilty of concealment of facts and withholding of the complete information from his voters”. He also went on to declare that Abbasi was not qualified to be elected a member of parliament according to Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution.
Elaborating on the decision, the judge stated that Abbasi had declared the value of his hose in Islamabad to be Rs300,000 but put it under mortgage against an amount of Rs24.7 million.
He also noted the discrepancies in two affidavits submitted by Abbasi as one had mentioned shares in Air Blue and Blue Pines Inn Murree, “after interpolation”, while the other did not.
Judge Rahman stated that the stance of the returning officer (RO) — who an inquiry has been initiated against — was different from that of Abbasi’s lawyer on the changes made to the affidavit.
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