Applicants can withdraw their nomination papers until February 19; polls scheduled for March 3. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set up facilitation centres at its central secretariat and offices of four provincial election commissioners to help retuning officers scrutinise nomination papers of candidates for next month’s Senate election on 52 seats.
A total of 140 candidates from different parties and independents from all four provinces have filed nomination papers for the election on March 3.
By Thursday, only one candidate had filed nomination papers for two Islamabad seats, while no one has yet filed nomination papers for four Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) seats.
Election authorities have fixed February 10 as the last date for filing nomination papers for Islamabad candidates and February 12 for Fata’s.
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To assist returning officers in the scrutiny process, National Database and Registration Authority, Federal Board of Revenue, State Bank of Pakistan and other relevant institutions have been asked to nominate a focal person for ECP facilitation centres.
The ECP secretary wrote letters to the heads of these institutions, an official handout said.
The scrutiny process of candidates will start on February 10 and conclude on Feb 12.
For 12 seats - seven general, two each for women and technocrat categories and one for minority - from Punjab, a total of 34 candidates have filed nomination papers.
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Twenty-one candidates, including Kamal Ali Aga, Muhammad Usman Khan, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Shahzad Ali Khan, Zubair Gull, Muhammad Sarwar, Musdik Masood Malik, Maqbool Ahmed, Sami Ullah Chaudhry, Haroon Khan Malik, Shakeel Awan, Shaheen Khalid Butt, Irfan Ahmed Khan Daha, Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, Mian Hamid Miraj, Syed Asif Saeed Kirmani, Sarfraz Qureshi, Muhammad Bilal Butt, Sartaj Ali Khan and Rao Aneesur Rehman Khan, are contesting for seven general seats.
For two women seats, former PPP foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Nuzhat Sadiq, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Saadia Abbasi and Andleeb Abbas have filed nomination papers.
For one non-Muslim seat, three candidates Kamran Michael, William Michael and Victor Azariah have filed nomination papers, while a total of five candidates are in the run for the two technocrat seats. Former finance minister Ishaq Dar who filed nomination papers for general seat has also filed nomination papers for the technocrat category.
Other four candidates are Muhammad Nawazish Ali Pirzada, Abdul Karim, Malik Muhammad Asif and Chaudhry Munir Ahmed.
From Sindh, sitting Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, Maula Bux Chandio, Mustasfa Nawaz Khokhar, Muhammad Ali Shah Jamot, Imamuddin Shouqeen, Ayaz Ahmad Mehar, Murtaza Wahab, Dost Ali Jesser, Jawad Nayyab Leghari (PPP), Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah (PML-F), Syed Mubashir Imam, Sagheer Ahmad, Hassan Sabir, Anees Ahmad Khan (PSP), Kamran Khan Tessori, Aminul Haque, Farhan Chishti, Farogh Naseem, Amirt Waliduddin Chishti, Ahmad Chinoy, Sarfaraz Khan Jatoi (MQM-P) and Muhammad Asif Khan (PML-N) are the 23 candidates who have filed nomination papers for seven general seats from Sindh.
Qurratulain Marri, Humera Alwani, Kesho Bal, Nida Khuhro (PPP), Nasreen Jalil, Mangla Sharma, Nikhat Shakeel Khan, Kishwar Zehra (MQM-P) and Sofia Saeed Shah (PSP) are the nine candidates who have filed nomination papers for two seats reserved for women from the province.
Abdul Qadir Khanzada, Farogh Naseem, Ahmad Chinoy, Syed Ali Raza Abidi, Justice (retd) Hasan Feroz (MQM-P), Sikandar Ali Mandhro, Rukhsana Zuberi, Yunis Hyder Soomro, Taj Haider (PPP), Najeeb Haroon (PTI) and Sofia Saeed Shah (PSP) have filed nomination papers for two seats reserved for technocrats, while Anwar Lal Deen, Anthony Naveed (PPP) Mohan Manjiani (PSP) and Sanjay Parwani (MQM-P) have filed nomination papers for one seat reserved for non-Muslims.
From Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Ayub, Khial Zaman, Fida Muhammad, Faisal Javed, Latif Yousafzai, Zafar Ullah Khatak, Ali Hasan (PTI), Gul Naseeb Khan, Talha Mehmood (JUI-F), Afzal Khan Jadoon, Haji Dildar Khan, Muhammad Sabir Shah, Muhammad Qasim Shah (PML-N), Faisal Sakhi Butt, Bahramand (PPP), Masood Abbas, Mushtaq Ahmad, Abdul Wasi (Jamaat-e-Islami) and Maulana Samiul Haq (Independent) are in the race for seven general seats. Talha Mehmood is the only one who has filed two separate nomination papers.
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Azam Swati, Latif Yousafzai (PTI), Maulana Samiul Haq, Nisar Khan (Independent), Dilawar Khan (PML-N), Muhammad Yaqoob Shaikh (JUI-F) and Muhammad Ghufran (QWP) will vie for two seats reserved for technocrats, including ulema. Mehar Taj Roghani, Naureen Farooq Khan (PTI), Raeesa Daud, Sobia Shahid (PML-N), Naeema Kishwar Khan (JUI-F), Shagufta Malik (ANP), Rubina Khalid (PPP) and Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli (QWP) are in the run for two seats reserved for women from K-P.
For 11 seats, including seven general, two each for women and technocrat categories, from Balochistan, a total of 28 candidates have filed nomination papers. For general seats, 15 candidates have filed their nomination papers. These include Amir Afzal Khan of PML-N, Muhammad Akram of National Party, Maulvi Fiaz Mohammad of JUI-F , Muhammad Sadiq Sangrani (Independent), Ahmed Khan (Independent), Muhammad Abdul Qadir (Independent), Allauddin (Independent), Anwarul Haq Kakar (Independent), Khuda Babar (Independent), Fateh Muhammad Baloch (Independent), Hamayum Aziz Kurd (BNP-M), Nizamuddin Kakar (ANP), Yousaf Khan Kakar (PkMAP), Sardar Shafeeq Tareen (PkMAP) and Hussain Islam (Independent).
For the technocrat category, seven candidates Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo (NP), Kamran Murtaza (JUI-F), Hussain Islam (Independent), Nizamuddin (NP), Naseeb Ullah Bazai (PML-N), Dr Manaf Tareen (PMAP) and M Abdul Qadir (Independent) have filed their papers.
For two women seats from the province, Tahira Khursheed (NP), Sana Jamali (Independent), Sama Parveen Magsi (Independent), Azra Syed (JUI-F), Abida Umar (PkMAP), Samina Mumtaz (PML-N) have filed their nomination papers.
Senate polls to be held for 46 seats on March 3
Nine MPs will not be able to cast vote
The ECP has said that those who had not filed their statements of assets last year would not be able to vote in the upcoming Senate election.
It said nine lawmakers continue to be suspended for failing to meet legal obligation. They include: Muhammad Ismael Rahu, Makhdoom Khaliluz Zaman, Mst Tania, Muhammad Kamran, Rukhsana Parveen, Bilqees Mukhtar and Irum Azim Farooqi of the Sindh Assembly and Sardar Jamal Leghari and Majeed Niazi of the Punjab Assembly.
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