ECP rejects Imran Khan's nomination papers from Lahore, Mianwali

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former premier Imran Khan's nomination papers for a National Assembly constituency from Punjab's capital Lahore, and his home city Mianwali were rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday.

The former premier had filed nomination papers for NA-122 and NA-89.

The move is a serious setback for the party, whose leadership is dealing with numerous charges related to the May 9 riots.

The PTI founder has been convicted,” the returning officer (RO) assigned to scrutinise the nomination papers of the NA-122 constituency said.

As noted by the officer, the former prime minister is not a registered voter in the constituency and has been “convicted by a court of law ”.

"PTI founder's proposer and seconder do not belong from NA-122," the objection added.

Separately, the ECP also rejected PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi's nomination papers from Multan's NA-150, NA-151, PP-218, and Tharparkar's NA-214.

In a related development, the ECP filed on Saturday a review petition at the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against its single bench ruling that restored the bat symbol for PTI.

The electoral body had nullified the PTI's intra-party elections, declaring the party's ineligibility for obtaining its traditional electoral symbol of ‘bat’. However, on December 26, the PHC suspended the ECP decision.

In its review plea, the ECP has requested the court to review the PTI's intra-party elections and its decision related to the election symbol.