Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Photo: screenshot
LAHORE:
An election tribunal has upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification declaring Nawaz Sharif the winner of Lahore NA-130, rejecting a challenge filed by PTI chief Dr Yasmin Rashid.
The move ends Dr Yasmin’s attempt to overturn Sharif’s victory in the February 2024 general elections in the constituency, also known as NA-130 (Lahore-XIV).
The court, presided over by Justice Rana Zahid Mahmood, rejected Dr Yasmin’s petition on technical grounds. This decision means that the official result notified by the ECP will remain in force.
According to the published results of the February 8, 2024 elections, the three-time prime minister received 179,310 votes in the NA-130 election, while Dr. Yasmin received 104,485 votes.
The PTI leader approached the court in the weeks after the poll, arguing through her lawyers that the ECP had not followed proper procedure when it notified Sharif’s victory. She alleged that the result had been manipulated in her favor and sought quashing of the notification.
His legal team argued the outcome was based on incorrect documentation and flawed processes. They argued that the consolidated ECP results, commonly referred to in public debate as Form 47, contradicted the polling station-level results recorded on Form 45, which they claimed showed a different result.
Form 45 is the official “count result” prepared at each polling station and signed by election officials. It has been cited repeatedly by PTI-backed candidates in post-election protests across the country following the 2024 general elections, forming the basis of several petitions challenging the official results.
The court’s decision in Case NA-130 was among several expected rulings in election disputes filed after the February 2024 election, as courts continue to consider challenges centered on alleged discrepancies between polling place records and consolidated results.
The February 8 general elections were followed by weeks of disputes and competing claims over the results in several constituencies, with PTI-backed candidates alleging that the results were altered during consolidation and reporting.
