Who's taking NA-55?

[SSGPA1]

Only four in the run for NA-55 seat pay taxes
By Iftikhar A. Khan
Tuesday, 23 Feb, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Only four of the 22 candidates running in the NA-55 (Rawalpindi-VI) by-election scheduled for Wednesday have declared their tax details, a report released by a coalition of NGOs working to foster democratic accountabilities reveals.

According to declarations made by the contestants in their nomination forms submitted to the Election Commission, only five have declared that they are registered with the tax authorities and furnished their National Tax Number (NTN), with Awami Muslim League (AML) President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed being the only one who has paid tax in six-digit figure.

Besides Mr Ahmed, the NTN holders in the run are Dr Mohammad Kamal of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Malik Shakeel Awan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Haji Gulzar Awan of Pakistan Aman Party (PAP) and Barrister Danish Iftikhar, an independent candidate.

The report released by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) says only four NTN holders declared that they paid income tax during the last fiscal year.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed paid Rs139,760, Dr Kamal Rs14,700, Haji Gulzar Awan Rs40,000 and Shakeel Awan Rs13,214. Interestingly, Barrister Iftikhar has declared his net worth of assets at Rs117.14 million but did not mention the amount of income tax he might have paid.

Returning Officer Syed Mohammad Tariq Qadri, when contacted, confirmed that Barrister Iftikhar did not mention any tax amount in his statement.

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has declared the net value of his assets at Rs24.61 million. He declared the value of his land in Fatehjang at Rs8.63 million, Al Rashid Market at Rs1.05 million and a farm shed in Fatehjang at Rs800,000. He has also declared a fixed deposit amount of Rs13 million, a Honda car valuing less than Rs1 million, a tractor valuing Rs170,000 and weapons worth Rs30,000.

The declared assets of Barrister Danish Iftikhar include prize bonds worth Rs105 million, a Toyota vehicle valuing Rs5 million, land valuing at Rs6.8 million and shares of Rs1.04 million.

Ejaz Khan Jazi of the PTI has put the value of six kanals of land and a 10 marla plot owned by him at Rs5.3 million.

Dr Kamal of Jamaat-i-Islami has declared the value of his 20 kanals at Rs4 million and a Suzuki van worth Rs400,000.

Haji Gulzar Awan’s declared assets include three plots worth Rs7.5 million, a Land Cruiser valuing at Rs4 million, a Santro car and furniture worth Rs250,000 each.

Sajjad Qadri of Sunni Tehrik has declared the value of his land and house at Rs2 million. He also possesses 10 tolas of gold.

Haji Javed of Awami National Party has declared the value of a seven marla plot owned by him at Rs1.9 million.

Abdul Sattar of Awami Party Pakistan has declared the value of his home and plot at Rs1.8 million, Talib Qureshi of Pakistan Awami Party possesses a flat valuing Rs1 million, Ghulam Hussain and Malik Asif, independents, have declared the value of their homes at Rs1.2 million. Malik Asif also owns six tolas of gold. Another independent candidate, Naeemur Rehman, had a car valuing at Rs550,000 to declare in his assets.

Those who have not declared any asset in their forms include Kashif Hussain of Mohajir Kashmir Movement, Sardar Naseer of Pakistan Freedom Party, Perveen Kausar, Amin Gill, Hakeem Bashir Bhervi, Khurshid Anwar, Shahbaz Bhatti and Syed Tanvir (independents).

Of 63 nominations filed for NA-55 by-elections, eight were rejected on multiple grounds. Two objections were filed against Sheikh Rashid Ahmed which were turned down by the returning officer after accepting the defence and documents furnished by the AML candidate.

The second objection was filed against Siddiqul Farooque, who withdrew from the race. Thirty candidates withdrew their nomination papers, while three withdrew from the contest after the acceptance of their nomination papers, leaving 22 in the run – 10 fielded by political parties and 12 independents.

DAWN.COM | National | Only four in the run for NA-55 seat pay taxes


******************************

Lets disqualify all non tax payers!!!!!!

 

[ajpirzada]

its a tough call. pml-n has a vote bank of around 70,000. but PTI and JUI might take some of PML-N votes. sheikh rasheed can on the other hand get PPP and PML Q vote. but how much vote do these two parties have? ppp got 17000 but you can say that was emotional vote. not sure about pml q.
but over last two years things do have gone in favour of sheikh rasheed. pml n left pindites two times.

tough call guys, rigging or no rigging

 

[ejaz007]

Polling for NA-55 by-elections kicks off
Updated at: 0757 PST, Wednesday, February 24, 2010


RAWALPNDI: The polling for by-elections in NA-55 has commenced here at 8am, which will continue sans any break until 5pm at 250 polling stations with over 600 polling booths, Geo news reported on Wednesday morning.

The Punjab government has announced a local holiday today (Wednesday) here in connection with the by-elections.

Rawalpindi CPO Rao Iqbal told Geo news on Tuesday that Rangers and Elite Force commandoes were guarding Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and other candidates. He said one SSP, five SPs and 10 DSPs were deputed in this constituency containing eight police stations.

This is the third election in the constituency in two years, including the general elections in 2008 and one by-polls held in the same year.

In both elections, the PML-N candidates — Javed Hashmi and Haji Pervaiz Khan — emerged victorious.

Javed Hashmi had swept the general elections with a huge margin. He vacated the seat from NA-55 after being elected from four constituencies in the 2008 general elections.

The seat was again retained by Haji Pervaiz. However, his involvement in the examination scandal forced him to resign from the seat.

In the last by-polls, Sheikh Rashid did not contest from NA-55. With the seat of NA-55 falling vacant after the resignation of Haji Pervaiz, the Punjab government had postponed the polls time and again due to the poor law and order situation.

However, Sheikh Rashid had approached the Supreme Court in this connection, which ordered the Punjab government to hold by-polls in NA-55.

The main contest would be between Sheikh Rashid, Awami Muslim League president, and PML-N’s Malik Shakeel Awan. Nonetheless, vote bank of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) will play an important role.

It is estimated that if PTI’s Ijaz Khan Jazi grabs more than 10,000 votes, Sheikh Rashid’s victory is likely. Matter-of-factly, JI’s around 5,000-7,000 voters are always found very ‘obedient’ when it comes to elections anywhere in Pakistan.

In the past, these two parties had sympathies with PML N that proved helpful for the latter’s success at many a place. Now that they have their own candidates, the PML-N is going to go through hot waters.

On the basis of this triangle of confrontation in addition to support by the PML-Q and the PPP, it seems that Sheikh Rashid will benefit. Dissidents of PML-N will also strive to tip the scale in his favour.

A political analyst says this is a do-or-die situation for Sheikh Rashid. “If he loses, it will be an end to his political career,” he said.

Importance of this seat for the PML-N can be assessed by the fact that party chief Nawaz Sharif had to rush in the constituency to pull through a public meeting, collecting support for his candidate.

Defeat in this by-election, the experts think, will amount to beginning of a downfall of PML-N as a political party.

This is the reason that Malik Shakeel Awan is struggling hard with the help of his experienced party leaders to win. The public meeting of Nawaz Sharif has also encouraged Shakeel Awan a great deal.

Polling for NA-55 by-elections kicks off - GEO.tv

 

[fawwaxs]

Polling underway in Pindi by-election

Over 330,000 voters registered in the city’s densely populated NA-55 constituency today get a third opportunity in two years to elect their representative to the National Assembly.

There are 22 candidates in the run for the seat but the real contest is evidently between Malik Shakil Awan of the PML-N which rules Punjab and the party’s former star and six-time winner from the constituency, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who fell out of PML-N’s grace after he joined the Pervez Musharraf government.

The NA-55 seat fell vacant last year when PML-N’s MNA Haji Pervaiz had to resign after a proxy was caught sitting in his place in a college level exam.

Other candidates of significance are Dr Mohammad Kamal of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Ejaz Khan Jazi of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI).

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has not fielded any candidate and indeed announced its support to the PML-N candidate “to honour the Charter of Democracy” that it signed with PML-N in 2006.



However, the PML-N leaders allege that the PPP is covertly supporting Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed because of the tense relationship between the two parties on the issues of the judges’ appointment and the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

Despite the usual security concerns, voters are expected to turn up in good numbers at the polling stations in view of the intense mobilization campaign by all the candidates.

Sheikh Rashid had taken a low profile after losing to the PML-N in the February 2008 general elections and stayed out of the by-poll held in June 2008 too but jumped into the latest by-poll hoping that the people of Rawalpindi have “forgiven” him for supporting the military rule of Pervez Musharraf.



In his recent interviews on various TV channels, he suggested that the vote against him in 2008 elections was “a reaction to the Lal Masjid operation”.

The 59-year-old self-proclaimed ‘Farzand-i-Pakistan’, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, ran an extensive election campaign, establishing himself as a formidable candidate to his rivals.



His vigorous campaign compelled PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and the heads of two other major parties to hold public rallies on the last day of the electioneering to gather support for their party candidate.

Political observers feel that after losing its seat in the recently-held Mansehra by-poll, the PML-N is not taking the NA-55 contest lightly.

At the start of the campaign, Sheikh Rashid mostly talked about the unfinished development projects in the area and later started targeting his opponents, mostly the PML-N, in his speeches.



He also tried to gain sympathies and benefit from a murderous attack on him earlier this month in which three of his bodyguards were killed.

In an intelligent but a risky move, the PML-N instead of putting up a political heavy weight, awarded the party ticket to an ordinary party worker.



Malik Shakil Awan has never contested an election before but he is no stranger to elections either. He used to be a key member of Sheikh Rashid’s election campaigns until 2008.

A defeat at the hands of his own old worker would certainly be an embarrassment if not humiliation for the six-time winner Sheikh Rashid from a constituency that has always been a stronghold of the PML-N. NA-55 is among the few constituencies in the country where votes are cast largely on party basis.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed won this seat in all the six elections held between 1988 and 1997 on PML-N ticket, securing each time more than 72,000 votes.



He contested the 2002 general election as an independent candidate from constituencies NA-55 and NA-56 and won both, securing a little over 40,000 votes. His rivals accused him of using Nawaz Sharif’s name to win.

That was the only time that PML-N ticket-holders lost elections in the constituencies.

Independent Sheikh Rashid retained the NA-55 seat. Before the by-elections were called for the NA-56 seat vacated by him, he joined the military-backed PML-Q, and his nominee was defeated in the by-elections.

In the February 2008 elections, Sheikh Rashid again contested the polls from both the constituencies, this time on the PML-Q ticket, and met humiliating defeat at the hands of PML-N candidates - Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in NA-55 and Hanif Abbasi in NA-56. His defeat was so complete that he even lost his deposit money in both the constituencies.

Later, Mr Hashmi vacated the NA-55 seat and by-elections were held in June 2008. Mr Ahmed did not contest the elections and Haji Pervez Khan of the PML-N managed to win with a thin margin. The turnout remained only 11 per cent in the June 2008 by-poll as only 39,135 people cast their votes.

In each of the six elections held between 1988 and 2008, the PPP tried a different candidate but none could make inroads in the PML-N’s vote bank in this constituency. The average PPP vote in the constituency is stated to be ranging from 30,000 to 40,000.

All the candidates in the latest by-poll have tried to woo the PPP voters by exploiting their sentiments on the issue of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Unlike his past practice, this time Sheikh Rashid refrained from directly criticising the PPP leadership and targeted his criticism at the PML-N and the Sharif brothers.

For the PML-N and its candidate, the Sheikh was the main target. Only the PTI and the JI candidates directed their criticism at others in the run. The PTI and the JI candidates also talked about international issues and foreign policy matters during their election campaigns.

Before the 2002 general elections, the entire Rawalpindi city was incorporated into a single National Assembly constituency. However, after the authorities redrew the constituencies, the city was divided into two constituencies (NA-55 and NA-56).

The total population of the NA-55 constituency is estimated at 487,937 with 334,269 registered voters, including 150,762 women. It consists of areas where mostly middle class and lower middle class people reside. Most of the famous city bazaars are also situated in the same area.



THE PPP FACTOR

Political observers are keen to know the impact of the PPP vote bank on the outcome of the Wednesday’s by-election in NA-55.

Interviews with a number of local PPP activists and leaders revealed the party was divided over the issue of support to the candidates.

Dawn has learnt that Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has managed to get the support of a group of the local PPP leaders and activists.



These activists say that they would vote for Mr Ahmed in reaction to the harsh criticism of PPP co-chairman and President Asif Zardari by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders during the recent judicial crisis.

The PPP activists are angry with the tone used by the PML-N leaders while accusing Mr Zardari of keeping ill-gotten money in the foreign banks.

“We did want to support the PML-N in the by-election, but now it seems difficult for us because of the language used by the PML-N leaders, particularly by Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, against our President,” said a PPP activist. He claimed that there was no compulsion on them from the top party leadership to support the PML-N.

When reminded of the same kind of criticism from Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on former PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, he said, Mr Ahmed had apologized for it in his recent meetings with them.

Sources told Dawn that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had even decided to appoint some PPP activists as his political agents.

There is another group of diehard PPP activists who have decided to abstain themselves from the whole voting exercise.

“We have always voted for the PPP and can’t even think of casting vote to any other party,” said one of the members of this group.



He said it was unthinkable for him to vote at least for Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who had allegedly used foul language against Ms Bhutto during the previous elections.



The PML-N leader, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly recently, had alleged that President Zardari had asked his party workers to support Mr Ahmed in the by-election.

 

[fatman17]

are there any 'polls' suggesting who will win?

 

[ejaz007]

NA-55 sees heated contest amid tall claims by candidates
Updated at: 1335 PST, Wednesday, February 24, 2010


RAWALPINDI: The polling for by-elections in NA-55 is underway here as candidates contesting election visited different polling stations and cast their votes.

The chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid and candidate of Jamaat-e-Islami Dr. Kamal have blamed administration for foul play. Sheikh Rashid has claimed that a naib tehsildar has been caught while trying to cast a fake vote. Later, the administration took him away.

On the other hand, PML-N candidate Shakeel Awan said he will claim the land slide victory against opponents.

Sheikh Rashid has cast his vote in Ziaul Awam school whereas Shakeel Awan of PML-N cast vote in Islamia High School, Ijaz Khan of Tahreek-e-Insaaf cast vote in Islamia High School and candidate of JI Dr. Kamal cast his vote in a school situated at Kashmir Road.

Two hundred and fifty polling stations have been established for NA-55 by polls among which 49 have been declared sensitive. More than 4,800 police personnel have been deployed and city has been divided into five sectors for security purpose.

NA-55 sees heated contest amid tall claims by candidates - GEO.tv

 

[Spring Onion]

Waiting for the result

 

[ajpirzada]

Jang poll: PML-N Awan leads in NA-55 by-election
Updated at: 1741 PST, Wednesday, February 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Jang Group has released the results of its public opinion poll conducted in NA-55 about by-election.

PML-N candidate Shakil Awan is leading the table followed by AML chief Sheikh Rashid, according to the poll.

Before the start of polling in NA-55, Jang, The News and Geo News conducted a survey, according to which Shakil Awan got fist position by securing 42.51% people, while Sheikh Rashid has the backing of 38.04% people.

In addition, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf candidate Ejaz Khan is at third place with 3.75% support.

A total of 31720 forms were distributed among people, out of which 26100 forms were filled accurately.

Jang poll: PML-N Awan leads in NA-55 by-election - GEO.tv

 

[Spring Onion]

The unofficial result at Polling Station NO 1

Was
Shakeel Awan 242 votes

Sheikh Rashid 218 votes



More to come counting is continued

 

[fatman17]

s/rashid is claiming rigging in polling stations! how true this is?

 

[ajpirzada]

dont think there is much reality to that.
slight rigging however cannot be ignored but it wont have any significant impact on the election

 

[Spring Onion]

s/rashid is claiming rigging in polling stations! how true this is?

Can be after all PML-N is in the government in Punjab.
Shakeel Awan has done nothing to gain the large vote bank neither he is as popular as Sheeda

 

[fatman17]

exactly my point so the vote is for sharif brothers!

 

[Spring Onion]

Polling ends, vote count underway in Pindi by-election
Wednesday, 24 Feb, 2010

RAWALPINDI: Vote counting has begun in the NA-55 by-elections as polling ended on Wednesday.

Over 330,000 voters registered in the city’s densely populated constituency today get a third opportunity in two years to elect their representative to the National Assembly.

There were 22 candidates in the run for the seat but the real contest was evidently between Malik Shakil Awan of the PML-N which rules Punjab and the party’s former star and six-time winner from the constituency, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who fell out of PML-N’s grace after he joined the Pervez Musharraf government.

The NA-55 seat fell vacant last year when PML-N’s MNA Haji Pervaiz had to resign after a proxy was caught sitting in his place in a college level exam.

Other candidates of significance were Dr Mohammad Kamal of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Ejaz Khan Jazi of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI).

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not field any candidate and indeed announced its support to the PML-N candidate “to honour the Charter of Democracy” that it signed with PML-N in 2006.

However, the PML-N leaders alleged that the PPP is covertly supporting Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed because of the tense relationship between the two parties on the issues of the judges’ appointment and the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

Despite the usual security concerns, voters were expected to turn up in good numbers at the polling stations in view of the intense mobilization campaign by all the candidates.

Sheikh Rashid had taken a low profile after losing to the PML-N in the February 2008 general elections and stayed out of the by-poll held in June 2008 too but jumped into the latest by-poll hoping that the people of Rawalpindi have “forgiven” him for supporting the military rule of Pervez Musharraf.

In his recent interviews on various TV channels, he suggested that the vote against him in 2008 elections was “a reaction to the Lal Masjid operation”.

The 59-year-old self-proclaimed ‘Farzand-i-Pakistan’, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, ran an extensive election campaign, establishing himself as a formidable candidate to his rivals.

His vigorous campaign compelled PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and the heads of two other major parties to hold public rallies on the last day of the electioneering to gather support for their party candidate.

Political observers feel that after losing its seat in the recently-held Mansehra by-poll, the PML-N is not taking the NA-55 contest lightly.

At the start of the campaign, Sheikh Rashid mostly talked about the unfinished development projects in the area and later started targeting his opponents, mostly the PML-N, in his speeches.

He also tried to gain sympathies and benefit from a murderous attack on him earlier this month in which three of his bodyguards were killed.

In an intelligent but a risky move, the PML-N instead of putting up a political heavy weight, awarded the party ticket to an ordinary party worker.

Malik Shakil Awan has never contested an election before but he is no stranger to elections either. He used to be a key member of Sheikh Rashid’s election campaigns until 2008.

A defeat at the hands of his own old worker would certainly be an embarrassment if not humiliation for the six-time winner Sheikh Rashid from a constituency that has always been a stronghold of the PML-N. NA-55 is among the few constituencies in the country where votes are cast largely on party basis.

Sheikh Rashid Ahmed won this seat in all the six elections held between 1988 and 1997 on PML-N ticket, securing each time more than 72,000 votes.

He contested the 2002 general election as an independent candidate from constituencies NA-55 and NA-56 and won both, securing a little over 40,000 votes. His rivals accused him of using Nawaz Sharif’s name to win.

That was the only time that PML-N ticket-holders lost elections in the constituencies.

Independent Sheikh Rashid retained the NA-55 seat. Before the by-elections were called for the NA-56 seat vacated by him, he joined the military-backed PML-Q, and his nominee was defeated in the by-elections.

In the February 2008 elections, Sheikh Rashid again contested the polls from both the constituencies, this time on the PML-Q ticket, and met humiliating defeat at the hands of PML-N candidates - Makhdoom Javed Hashmi in NA-55 and Hanif Abbasi in NA-56. His defeat was so complete that he even lost his deposit money in both the constituencies.

Later, Mr Hashmi vacated the NA-55 seat and by-elections were held in June 2008. Mr Ahmed did not contest the elections and Haji Pervez Khan of the PML-N managed to win with a thin margin. The turnout remained only 11 per cent in the June 2008 by-poll as only 39,135 people cast their votes.

In each of the six elections held between 1988 and 2008, the PPP tried a different candidate but none could make inroads in the PML-N’s vote bank in this constituency. The average PPP vote in the constituency is stated to be ranging from 30,000 to 40,000.

All the candidates in the latest by-poll have tried to woo the PPP voters by exploiting their sentiments on the issue of the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Unlike his past practice, this time Sheikh Rashid refrained from directly criticising the PPP leadership and targeted his criticism at the PML-N and the Sharif brothers.

For the PML-N and its candidate, the Sheikh was the main target. Only the PTI and the JI candidates directed their criticism at others in the run. The PTI and the JI candidates also talked about international issues and foreign policy matters during their election campaigns.

Before the 2002 general elections, the entire Rawalpindi city was incorporated into a single National Assembly constituency. However, after the authorities redrew the constituencies, the city was divided into two constituencies (NA-55 and NA-56).

The total population of the NA-55 constituency is estimated at 487,937 with 334,269 registered voters, including 150,762 women. It consists of areas where mostly middle class and lower middle class people reside. Most of the famous city bazaars are also situated in the same area.

THE PPP FACTOR

Political observers were keen to know the impact of the PPP vote bank on the outcome of the Wednesday’s by-election in NA-55.

Interviews with a number of local PPP activists and leaders revealed the party was divided over the issue of support to the candidates.

Dawn learnt that Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has managed to get the support of a group of the local PPP leaders and activists.

These activists say that they would vote for Mr Ahmed in reaction to the harsh criticism of PPP co-chairman and President Asif Zardari by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders during the recent judicial crisis.

The PPP activists were angry with the tone used by the PML-N leaders while accusing Mr Zardari of keeping ill-gotten money in the foreign banks.

“We did want to support the PML-N in the by-election, but now it seems difficult for us because of the language used by the PML-N leaders, particularly by Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, against our President,” said a PPP activist. He claimed that there was no compulsion on them from the top party leadership to support the PML-N.

When reminded of the same kind of criticism from Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on former PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, he said, Mr Ahmed had apologized for it in his recent meetings with them.

Sources told Dawn that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had even decided to appoint some PPP activists as his political agents.

There was another group of diehard PPP activists who decided to abstain themselves from the whole voting exercise.

“We have always voted for the PPP and can’t even think of casting vote to any other party,” said one of the members of this group.

He said it was unthinkable for him to vote at least for Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who had allegedly used foul language against Ms Bhutto during the previous elections.

The PML-N leader, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly recently, had alleged that President Zardari had asked his party workers to support Mr Ahmed in the by-election.


DAWN.COM | National | Polling ends, vote count underway in Pindi by-election

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

It would be Shikh Rasheed and He will win it with mighty majority ..!