Islamabad: Former Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz, who were barred from contesting the February 18 polls, plan to contest by-elections to be held in June from Lahore and Rawalpindi.
PML-N chief Sharif is expected to contest the June 3 by-polls to a National Assembly seat in Lahore while Shahbaz is expect to contest for a seat in Punjab's provincial assembly. The constituency chosen by Sharif in Lahore is one that was created by the bifurcation of a seat he had fought elections from in 1993.
PML-N lawyer Kahliq Hussain Bhatti also obtained nomination papers for Sharif and Shahbaz for two National Assembly seats in Rawalpindi that were vacated by PML-N leaders who won more than one seat in the February 18 general election.
Shahbaz's representatives also obtained nomination papers for a Punjab provincial assembly seat in Rawalpindi. The last date for submitting nomination papers is April 21. PML-N sources said the party's leadership is optimistic that the nomination papers of Sharif and Shahbaz would be accepted for the by-polls.
They said the party will pursue the case in court if the papers are rejected. The PML-N has already said that Shahbaz will become chief minister of Punjab once he gets elected in the by-polls.
