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March 9, 2010, 10:48 am | 
Maverick Report
ISLAMABAD: Five of 56 candidates in the run for by-election in NA-123 (Lahore-VI) scheduled for March 10, 2010, have declared their taxes paid during the last fiscal year, though many of them posses assets valuing millions of rupees, says the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) in its Pre-Election Observation Report.
According to declarations made by the contesting candidates on their nomination forms submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), only nine candidates — six party candidates and three independents — have declared that they are registered with tax authorities and furnished their National Tax Number (NTN). They include Pervaiz Malik of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Hamid Meraj of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Talib Hussain of Awami Party Pakistan, Mian Sohail Ismail of Pakistan Aman Party, Tahir Siddique of Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Masoom Hussain Shah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan-Niazi (JUP-N) and three independents namely Chaudhry Muhammad Shaukat, Shehzada Ahsan Ashraf and Malik Javed Shehbaz Heera.
Only five NTN-holders, however, declared that they paid income tax during the last fiscal year. Talib Hussain of Pakistani Awami Party paid Rs46,625, Pervaiz Malik of PML-N paid Rs25,831, Sohail Ismail of Pakistan Aman Party paid Rs6,250, and Masoom Hussain Shah of JUP-N paid Rs6,000.
An independent candidate, Shehzada Ahsan Ashraf paid Rs27,228 income tax during last fiscal year. Interestingly, three candidates (two independents and one of PTI) furnished their NTN numbers but did not mention any income tax paid.
Candidates of two political parties, namely Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inquilab, do not possess any NTN number.
Of 85 nominations filed for NA-123 by-election, three were rejected on multiple grounds. The nomination papers of Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry were rejected as he was sentenced by a court.
An objection was filed against Muhammad Nawaz Sharif but the objection was dismissed by the returning officer. An appeal against acceptance of Nawaz Sharif’s nomination was also turned down by court.
Independent candidate MP Khan’s nomination was rejected by the ECP, and an appeal also met the same fate. As many as 25 candidates, including Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, withdrew from the race, while one independent candidate, Nadeem Shehzad Chaudhry, retired after he was allotted an electoral symbol, leaving 56 candidates, including eight fielded by political parties and 48 independents.
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