Detained, top Pakistani lawyer not to contest polls

Photos

A Pakistan policeman installs a hoarding bearing PML election symbol

see larger image

uploaded by hussain

• 

  uploaded by hussain | add comment

• 

  uploaded by hussain | add comment

As Pakistani nation people, except lawyers and a few smaller parties, and regime are preparing for the January 8 general elections, the most celebrated lawyer of the country on Wednesday advised his friends to withdraw his nomination papers by December 15.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who was incarcerated by the regime immediately after proclamation of the state of emergency on November 3, had filed his nomination papers for election from a Lahore constituency on the ticket of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister of the country who returned from Saudi Arabia on November 25 after staying in exile for about seven years, had visited Ahsan at his residence soon after his arrival in Lahore and had announced that Ahsan, who was recently elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association -- the top of the Pakistani lawyers, would also be candidate of his party and his party would not field its candidate against him.

Barrister Ahsan, a bitter critic of President Pervez Musharraf, is currently under house arrest in Lahore. He advised his colleagues in writing to withdraw his nomination papers. According to Shaukat Ali Javed, a friend of Ahsan, he has been nominated by the most respected lawyer of the country to submit an application to the Election Commission of Pakistan for withdrawal of his nomination papers.

“The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association has decided to withdraw from the polls to express solidarity with the fellow lawyers, who are opposed to participation in the general elections,” Javed told BBC according to its Urdu website.

Former commerce minister Humayun Akhtar Khan was contesting election against Ahsan on ticket of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) while Rohail Asghar had filed nomination papers from the Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League (PML) from the same constituency.

Lawyers, civil society organizations and some smaller parties, including Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf of Imran Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami of Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Pakhtunkhwa Awami National Party of Mahmood Khan Achakzai, have announced to boycott polls.

They are demanding restoration of the superior judiciary of the country to pre-November 3 situation. According pro-boycott parties and groups, free and fair elections are impossible without an independent judiciary. However, PPP and PML-N are participating in elections and have already launching their election campaign. Now covering candidates of the two parties are likely to contest polls from the same constituency.

Shaukat Ali Javed also said that now Barrister Ahsan would struggle for restoration of democracy along with lawyers and has no direct link with the Bhutto-led PPP.

Election Arrangements

Pakistan’s chief election commissioner has directed the concerned officials to finalise polling scheme for the January 8 elections by December 24.

“Appointment of presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and polling staff will be completed by December 24,” said the official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday, wishing not to be identified. “The total number of voters is 81 million and around 200 ballot papers will be printed. The printing of ballot papers will be completed at the facilities of the Printing Corporation of Pakistan in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi by December 31," he added.

The official said the ECP has written a letter to the director general of the Pakistan Post Offices for provision of unpaid service with regard to the postal ballots for the general elections. He said the ECP has fixed the last date for receipt of applications for postal ballot papers as December 18 for the persons in the government services, members of the armed forces, holders of public offices, their wives and such of their children as are registered voters and ordinarily reside with them provided they are stationed at a place other than the place in which their home constituency is situated.

"Persons detained in prison or held in other custody are also entitled to vote by postal ballot," the official said. "The last date for the polling staff and police personnel posted at a polling station other than one at where they are entitled to cast their vote has been fixed as December 28," he added.

The official said that the ECP has allotted election symbols to 49 political parties while 74 parties were allotted election symbols in the 2002 general elections. He said the ECP has also started transportation of the election materials except ballot papers to all parties of the country. Earlier, the ECP dismissed the reports that electoral process could be delayed in some parts of the country because of unrest.

ECP Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad told a daily that election process would be completed in all parts of the country simultaneously as the provincial governments have assured the ECP normalisation of the situation in the troubled areas.

Misuse of Official Resources

The Pakistan Muslim League (PML), which led the ruling coalition for the past five years, is enjoying support of the government machinery for election campaign of its candidates. Besides complaints from the rival parties and candidates, various media persons have also noted the misuse of official machinery, particularly the resources of local governments.

In a glaring example, a policeman was Wednesday pictured by a photographer while installing hoarding of the PML party while a police vehicle was parked nearby carrying several such hoardings bearing election symbol of the PML party.