*LAHORE: **Supreme Court on Sunday suspended a ruling of the Lahore HighCourt (LHC) with regard to the new nomination forms.*
This order came on petitions filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) and former Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq against theJune 1 ruling of the LHC in the apex court’s Lahore registry.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar categorically stated that thepolls will be held on July 25. “The ECP will be solely responsible if theelections are delayed,” he warned.
The petitioners took the stance that the high court verdict will cause adelay in holding of the general elections and therefore, pleaded with thetop court to overturn it.
On Friday, the LHC set aside the new nomination forms, approved byparliament through the Election Act 2017, and directed the ElectionCommission of Pakistan (ECP) to start the process of issuing nominationforms afresh after improving them with addition of necessary details aboutcandidates who will contest the elections.
Following the recent developments – the LHC verdict and a resolution passedby the Balochistan Assembly seeking delay in the polls – two majorpolitical parties, including the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)have expressed serious, warning that attempts are being made to delay theelections.
Speaking to journalists a day earlier, Additional Secretary of ECP AkhtarNazir made it clear that the 2018 polls will be held on the scheduled date,which is July 25.
He said the commission will immediately file appeals against the high courtverdicts about nomination papers and annulment of delimitation ofconstituencies in a number of districts.
The official said that returning officers will not receive nominationpapers on June 3 and 4.
The commission had stopped issuance of nomination forms for GeneralElection 2018 after the high court ruling.
The court ruled that nomination form to be submitted by candidates for theupcoming general elections does not include mandatory information anddeclarations as required from the aspiring lawmakers by the Constitutionand law.