Election tribunal dismisses Yasmin Rashid’s challenge to Nawaz’s NA-130 win in 2024 polls

LAHORE: An election tribunal dismissed on Tuesday incarcerated PTI leader Yasmin Rashid’s petition that challenged PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s victory from Lahore’s NA-130 in the 2024 general elections. The tribunal, comprising retired Justice Rana Zahid Mahmood, dismissed Rashid’s plea on technical grounds. It said in its decision that the petitioner had failed to comply with the requirements under the Election Act, 2017 for filing an election petition. A written order of the tribunal is yet to be issued. Rashid had filed the petition challenging Nawaz’s victory notification on April 16, 2024. The petition argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had issued Sharif’s victory notification in violation of the law. Rashid requested in her plea to set aside the victory of the former prime minister and to declare her a returned candidate. She alleged that the ECP manipulated the election results to ensure her defeat. The ECP had issued the notification of Nawaz’s victory from NA-130 on February 13 last year. According to the ECP, Nawaz won the general election in the NA-130 constituency with 179,310 votes, while Rashid came second with 104,485 votes.