Peasant-farmer leader Mehr Abdul Sattar, who led a movement against the military for the ownership rights of farmers, and peasants in Okara, has been given the ticket for Punjab Assembly by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Mehr Abdul Sattar was arrested on April 16, 2016, after he had announced holding a big rally against retired Gen Musharraf as their villages, 19 in all, were besieged by the military farms’ administration.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2018 by an anti-terrorism court in Sahiwal but was released in 2020.
Mehr Abdul Sattar joined PTI last year.
Earlier, Supreme Court ordered the government to hold polls in Punjab on May 14.
The Supreme Court in February took a suo motu notice and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the schedule for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The ECP had announced the Punjab elections on April 30. On March 22, however, it withdrew the schedule and declared October 8 as the new date, forcing the PTI to move the top court.
PTI chairman Imran Khan had dissolved both the provincial assemblies, hoping the dissolution of two of the country’s four assemblies will force Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to announce immediate general elections.
However, both ECP and Defence Ministry have urged the Supreme Court to reconsider its order to hold provincial elections on May 14 due to “security concerns”.
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