Qasim Suri: Election Commission nullifies deputy speaker National Assembly election

Fourteen months after the general elections in Pakistan, the Election Tribunal has ruled out Quetta constituency NA-265 as a successor to Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri. It is to be noted that at this time the Speaker National Assembly Assad Qaiser is out of the country and in his absence, Qasim Suri was acting acting Speaker. Balochistan National Party Leader Nawazzada Lashkari Raisani challenged Qasim Suri's MNA success, and Election Tribunal Judge Justice Abdullah Baloch reversed the ruling in constituency NA-265 while ruling the case on Friday. Ordered The case was heard for more than a year at the Election Tribunal.

Ineligible reference dismissed against Imran Khan Challenging the success of Qasim Suri, Lashkar-e-Raisani held that NA-265 was rigged during the elections. In this regard, Nadra had also submitted a biometric report of the votes to the tribunal which stated that 52,000 votes cast in the constituency could not be verified.

Election Commission spokesman Altaf Khan told the BBC's Azam Khan that after receiving a detailed transcript of the Balochistan Election Tribunal decision on Qasim Suri, the Election Commission would issue notification regarding holding of by-elections, among other necessary actions. Rizvi, the head of the Free and Fair Election Network, which looks closely at election issues, says the tribunal's decision applies immediately.

Mudassar Rizvi told the BBC that the tribunal's decision could only be challenged in the Supreme Court. "It is possible that Qasim Suri would like to take a stay order immediately against this decision and then he would not wait till 30". Asadiya Riaz, who is associated with Puldat, says the most pressing aspect for such decisions is that decisions are made on time. There was also a time limit for appeal in the election reforms.