Upper house polls: Tax dodgers debarred from contesting Senate elections

Election authority rejects nomination papers of 21 FATA candidates for tax evasion.

QUETTA/ PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:

The election authority has rejected nomination papers of nearly two dozen candidates from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) seeking to secure a seat in the upper house of parliament on grounds of tax evasion.

It is for the first time in the country’s electoral history that tax evasion has become an issue for those who aspire to become public representatives through finding a berth in the Senate in the March 5 polls.

On Thursday, the first day of scrutiny, the returning officer (RO), director general of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), rejected nomination papers of 21 candidates from Fata, among them some sitting and former parliamentarians.

However, those whose nomination papers have been rejected from Fata argued that Fata is a tax-free zone, hence, they were not obliged to pay taxes.



A total of 43 candidates from Fata had filed nomination papers for the four seats from the area being contested for the upper house when 52 outgoing senators will be replaced by new members.

The RO has cleared 12 candidates, rejected 21 and objected against six others for their incomplete documents.

Most of those whose nomination papers were rejected faced the charge of tax evasion as they had not been filing their tax returns while papers of a few others were turned down on the grounds they had criminal cases pending against them.

Usman Ali, who was acting as retuning officer for candidates from Fata, rejected the nomination papers of Munir Khan Orakzai. He was parliamentary leader of Fata in the National Assembly during 2008-13.

Nomination papers of a sitting Senator Muhammad Idrees Khan Safi whose six-year term is expiring this March, have also been rejected. Among other prominent names who appear to be out of the race, unless cleared at the appeals stage, include former MNA Akhunzada Chittan and a former senator Hazif Rasheed Ahmed.

For the Senate polls, it is for the first time the ECP is getting services of FBR, NAB, FIA and other allied departments for their input before judging the credentials of the contestants.

These institutions have sent their reports to ECP for every individual candidate.

Besides many other criteria, anyone who has not been filing tax returns for the past three years is not eligible to contest polls.

An official of FBR told The Express Tribune that filing of tax returns is mandatory for everyone, including those belonging to areas declared tax-free zones or those whose income is less than a minimum threshold where income tax applies.

He also said a person from Fata who has income from some sources outside Fata, like any business or job in settled areas, have to pay tax.

The RO has asked these candidates to file a clearance certificate from FBR or they can contest their case in the appellant tribunals which will be hearing appeals against decisions of ROs at a later stage.

In Punjab, the returning officer accepted nomination papers of 12 candidates on Thursday.

In Sindh, the election commission has accepted around 19 nomination papers so far out of a total 28 submitted to the commission.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, a total of 21 including four minorities’ candidates appeared before scrutiny committee. Nomination papers for 17 general seats have been accepted.

In Balochistan, around 12 forms have been accepted so far out of a total 42 submitted to the election commission. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2015.