Election tribunal de-seats NA dy speaker Qasim Suri

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Deputy Speaker in National Assembly (NA) Qasim Khan Suri has been de-seated by the Election Tribunal of the Balochistan High Court on Friday, which ordered re-elections in his constituency.The tribunal headed by Justice Abdullah Baloch directed authorities to arrange re-election in NA-265 constituency, Quetta. The decision was announced over the petition of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) member Nawabzada Haji Lashkari Raisani who had challenged Suri’s victory in the General Election 2018. Raisani’s lawyer told the tribunal that a total of 114,000 votes were cast during the polls in NA-265 constituency, of which 65,000 votes were declared invalid. He alleged that the election was rigged as 65,000 invalid votes could not be verified.Following the verdict, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri who banned the word ‘selected’ in the National Assembly has been de-seated. Turns out 65K votes cast could not be verified. Can’t ban the truth. Soon all selected will have to go.”Suri controversially banned the use of the word “selected” from National Assembly proceedings, which was met with much scorn and ridicule from opposition benches, who found creative ways to worm the word in their speeches, much to the dismay of treasury benches.It may be mentioned here that Lashkari Raisani, Mehmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Hafiz Hamdullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, former speaker of Balochistan Assembly Raheela Durrani and Qasim Khan Suri contested the election from NA-265 constituency.

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