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Shahbaz’s nomination rejected

ISLAMABAD: The nomination of Shahbaz Sharif, former Chief Minister of Punjab province and brother of the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, for the January 8 general election was rejected on Saturday for his alleged role in an encounter killing and a loan default case.

His papers were rejected by a returning officer in Lahore where Mr. Sharif had filed his nomination.

Mr. Sharif has been charged with ordering the police killing of five terror suspects in 1998, when he was Chief Minister. A court in Lahore issued an arrest warrant for him in September, shortly before he was to accompany his brother back to Pakistan on what proved to be a short-lived attempt to end their exile.

Mr. Nawaz Sharif too faces a challenge to his nomination for his conviction by an anti-terrorism court on charges of hijacking a PIA flight on October 12, 1999, as he tried to prevent the General (Rtd.) Pervez Musharraf-led coup against him.

But he was pardoned from his life sentence in the case as part of an agreement under which he left Pakistan for Saudi Arabia in 2000 for a period of 10 years. Government officials have argued that his return three years ahead implied the agreement, including the pardon, no longer exists.

The returning officer has fixed December 3 as the date for the decision on the Pakistan Muslim league (N)’s eligibility to contest in the election. The party leads the opposition All Parties Democratic Movement grouping, which announced it would boycott the elections if General Musharraf does not restore the judiciary to its pre-Emergency status by December 15.

Nonetheless, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif has said he will challenge the Election Commission’s decision against him. His lawyers argued on Friday that he had no convictions against him. The election schedule allows rejected candidates to appeal against the decision of the returning officers until December 7.

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