LAHORE: A Pakistani court yesterday allowed former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to contest May 11 polls, striking down a disqualification order by an election tribunal.
Ashraf was earlier this month prevented from standing in his native Gojar Khan district in central Punjab province after his opponent accused him of corruption. He filed an appeal but both high court judges on the election tribunal rejected it and disqualified him from standing.
“A full court bench of Lahore High Court today struck down the election tribunal’s order on our appeal and allowed Ashraf to contest the election,” his lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa said.
Ashraf was sworn in as prime minister last June after Pakistan’s top court sacked his predecessor for contempt over his refusal to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari on the grounds that he has immunity as head of state.
Pakistanis vote on May 11 in an election that should see power pass from a civilian government that has served a full term to another for the first time.
$1.66bn released for development
ISLAMABAD: The federal government of Pakistan has released Rs162.9bn ($1.662bn) by April 19, 2013 against the total annual allocation of $3.67bn under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of 2012-13.
The total Rs162.9bn PSDP released under the developmental budget is further classified as Rs82.6bn for the infrastructure sector, Rs74.4bn for the social sector, Rs1.9bn for others sectors and Rs4bn for the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. These releases are made for 1,136 various developmental projects of national importance.
Agencies
