- Yasmin Rashid challenged Nawaz Sharif’s victory in April 2024.
- PTI senior leader had argued that ECP violated law.
- Claims results manipulated in favour of PML-N supremo.
LAHORE: An election tribunal on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Dr Yasmin Rashid challenging Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif’s victory from Lahore’s NA-130 in the 2024 general elections.
The incarcerated PTI senior leader, in April last year, filed a petition in the election tribunal against the three-time former premier through her lawyers, Ahmed Awais and Rana Mudassar.
She had stated in her petition that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the notification of Nawaz’s victory in violation of the law.
Dr Rashid, who served as Punjab health minister during former premier Imran Khan’s rule, claimed that results were manipulated in favour of the PML-N supremo.
After hearing arguments from both sides, election tribunal judge Justice (retd) Rana Zahid Mahmood declared the notification of Nawaz’s victory from NA-130 Lahore valid.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PLM-N supremo won the NA-130 seat by securing 171,024 votes, while Dr Yasmin Rashid, who was contesting elections as an independent candidate, bagged 115,043 votes during the elections.
The Imran Khan-founded party claimed its mandate was stolen in the February 8, 2024, general elections and results were changed in Form 47s, a document which provides insight into unconfirmed results of a constituency.
The former ruling party also claimed they won 180 NA seats, citing statistics of Form 45s.
Form 45, also known as the Presiding Officer’s Results of the Count, is the form that the presiding officer (PO) is required to sign and provide with their thumb impression and signature to the polling agents.
This form records the number of votes cast in a polling station. It also separately mentions how many votes a candidate received from that polling station.
Form 47 is another important form related to polling stations. In this form, the count of votes from all the polling stations of a constituency is recorded by the Returning Officer. This makes a provisional consolidated result of the constituency sans postal ballots.
