Pakistan

Shehbaz Sharif withdraws candidacy from NA-242

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3 years ago

Achakzai withdraws from NA-265 in favour of Fazl

KARACHI: Former Prime Minister and President of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Shehbaz Sharif has opted not to contest the upcoming elections from the NA-242 constituency in Karachi. This decision comes after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) declined to withdraw its candidate, Mustafa Kamal, from NA-242.

The withdrawal of nomination papers by Shehbaz Sharif has raised the stakes in the electoral dynamics of NA-242, signaling a failure in seat adjustment talks between the PML-N and MQM-P. In response to this development, PML-N Senator Nehal Hashmi announced that Khawaja Shoaib would now be the PML-N candidate for NA-242, as no consensus could be reached with MQM-P.

Earlier, Khalid Maqbool, a spokesperson for MQM-P, clarified that Mustafa Kamal would remain their candidate for NA-242, dismissing reports of any seat adjustment with PML-N. This clarification follows initial speculations that MQM-P and PML-N had reached an agreement over seat adjustment for Karachi’s NA-242 constituency.

The electoral scenario in NA-242 becomes increasingly competitive, as the parties grapple with the complexities of seat adjustments and candidate withdrawals ahead of the upcoming general elections.

While,

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of PakhtunKhaw Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), on Friday announced his withdrawal from the NA-265 constituency in favour of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will be contesting the upcoming general elections from NA-265 Pishin.

Earlier on January 09, the ECP allotted election symbols to 145 political parties across Pakistan for general elections 2024.

The ECP also allotted electoral symbols to 177 independent candidates contesting the general election 2024 on February 8.

According to ECP, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) retained its electoral symbol “Lion” while Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) was given “arrow” as its election symbol. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was allotted “Kite” while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) retained “Book” as its election symbol.

It is pertinent to mention here that on December 22, the electoral watchdog stripped Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its electoral symbol ‘bat’ symbol in a decision on founding member Akbar S Babar’s petition challenging the intra-party elections to be in line with the rules.

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