PML-N to field Miftah Ismail from NA-249 in Karachi after Vawda resigns: sources

Faisal Vawda had defeated PML-N's Shahbaz Sharif in the 2018 general elections for the NA-249 constituency

Zia Ur Rehman

March 07, 2021

PML-N's Miftah Ismail speaks to the media. Photo: File

Miftah to be fielded as PML-N candidate after Vawda resigns as NA-249 candidate
Vawda had defeated former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif from the constituency in the 2018 general elections
Party yet to finalised a candidate for NA-249 by-election, says PML-N

The PML-N plans to field former finance minister Miftah Ismail in the NA-249 by-election, after PTI leader Faisal Vawda resigned a couple of days ago.

Vawda resigned from the NA-249 seat after casting his vote in the recently-held Senate elections. According to a report in The News, the PML-N plans to field Miftah Ismail from the NA-249 constituency where, in the 2018 general elections, Vawda defeated former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif by a narrow margin.

After Vawda’s resignation, the PML-N is confident to win the constituency easily after gaining support from the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) component parties, particularly the PPP, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and the Awami National Party (ANP).

In the by-polls held in the past two months, the PML-N and the PPP supported each other in constituencies in various provinces.

Khawaja Tariq Nazeer, the PML-N Sindh information secretary, said the party had not yet finalised a candidate for the NA-249 constituency. The last NA-249 election had been a close contest, with Vawda securing 35,344 votes to defeat Shahbaz who polled 34,626 votes.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s candidate Mufti Abid Mubarak and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) candidate Aslam Shah had ranked third and fourth after bagging 23,981 and 13,534 votes respectively. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Syed Ataullah Shah had ranked fifth by securing 10,307 votes while PPP’s candidate Qadir Mandokhel polled a mere 7,236 votes and ranked sixth in the competition. The ANP and the JUI-F had formally announced their support for Shahbaz in the constituency.

NA-249 is among the constituencies of Karachi that border Balochistan and is exclusively composed of the entire Baldia Town, comprising Pashtun, Hazarewal (Hindko) and Muhajir populated neighbourhoods with a few Baloch and Sindhi villages.

It comprises neighbourhoods of Baldia Town, Ittehad Town, Rasheedabad, Qaimkhani Colony, Saeedabad, Afridi Colony and other areas.

After his defeat from the constituency in the general polls, Shahbaz had moved the election tribunal of the Sindh High Court against Vawda, seeking nullification of the results and a recount in the entire constituency. However, the tribunal dismissed his petition in October 2019.

IHC detailed judgement: Faisal Vawda submitted a false affidavit, should be prosecuted

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday had issued its detailed order in Vawda's disqualification case.

Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC had on March 3 disposed off the petition challenging Vawda's election after the minister submitted his resignation from the National Assembly.

The IHC, in its detailed order, had stated that, prima facie, the affidavit submitted by the PTI leader regarding his dual nationality at the time of his election to the National Assembly is “false”.

"Since the affidavits were tendered before the Election Commission of Pakistan, it is just and proper that the Election Commission of Pakistan probes into the matter of veracity of affidavit furnished by Faisal Vawda on 11.06.2018 and if same is found to be false to stipulate the effect thereof pursuant to observations made in PLD 2020 SC 591,” the order had said.

The judgement had noted that since the lawmaker has resigned as Member National Assembly, no writ of quo-warranto can be issued with respect to holding dual nationality.

“However, the matter of furnishing false affidavit is to be probed by the Election Commission of Pakistan [...] and the Commission may pass appropriate orders with respect to the same,” it added.

The court also observed with “dismay that respondent No.1 lingered on the matter by not filing reply under one pretext or the other which delayed the adjudication of the matter”.