A Pakistani court on Monday unseated a government minister and close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over his alleged role in vote rigging in the 2013 elections that brought the current government to power.
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique denied any wrongdoing, saying that his ruling PML-N party will consider whether to appeal the decision by the court, which removed him from office.
"I have seen several contradictions in the order," he told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore, where one of the tribunals was set up to probe allegations of fraud and vote rigging.
Pakistan's opposition political party led by cricket legend Imran Khan has for months alleged that Sharif had rigged the May 2013 parliament elections. Khan's supporters staged an unsuccessful, over four-months-long sit-in outside Pakistan's parliament late last year to press his demand that Sharif resign and hold new elections.
Khan welcomed Monday's decision, saying he hopes for similar decisions soon in other constituencies probing vote rigging. Sharif's party did not immediately respond to the decision.
Meanwhile, the death toll from an accident on Sunday in which a minibus struck a power line and burst into flames climbed to 13 after five people died at hospitals overnight, police said.
The minibus was carrying a wedding party and had metal dowry furniture strapped to the roof. When the furniture snagged the power line the bus burst into flames and crashed into a tree in southern Pakistan. Fifteen people were being treated for burns and other injuries at hospitals, police officer Altaf Chandio said.
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