Pakistan

PTI, PML-N candidates win two Senate seats unopposed

Former PM Gilani, Vawda clear ECP scrutiny process; PML-N’s Rashid, PTI’s Neelam get thrown out of race

Saqib Virk February 18, 2021

ISLAMABAD:

Two Senate candidates, one belonging to the ruling PTI and the other the opposition PML-N, from Punjab on Thursday won as many technocrat seats unopposed ahead of the upper house elections scheduled for March 3.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) accepted the nomination papers of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of the PPP and Federal Minister Faisal Vawda of the PTI for the upcoming Senate elections and rejected those submitted by senior PML-N leader Pervaiz Rashid and PTI's Neelam Irshad on the final day of the scrutiny process.

For the Senate election 2021, 141 nomination papers were accepted for 48 seats from across the country; 21 from Punjab, 40 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 35 from Balochistan, 35 from Sindh and nine from Islamabad.

Ali Zafar of the PTI and PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarar managed to bag the technocrat seats unopposed.

According to the Punjab election commissioner, Tarar got the technocrat seat after PTI’s Attaullah withdrew his nomination papers.

Gilani, who served as the prime minister from 2008 till June 19, 2012, when the top court disqualified him for contempt of court for refusing to reopen dormant cases against the then president Asif Zardari, has been declared eligible by the ECP to contest the elections.

According to the ECP order, “The candidate was convicted under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, a period of five years has elapsed since his conviction and candidate stands qualified for contesting election to the Senate from the federal capital.

“All the cases mentioned in the nomination papers are pending adjudication in different courts as such in the absence of conviction, a candidate cannot be barred from contesting elections as it is the basic principle of law that every person is innocent unless proven guilty.”

The order stated, "It may be noted that under Article 63 of the Constitution, there are certain disqualifications which are of temporary nature and a person disqualified under Article 63 can become qualified after lapse of certain period as mentioned therein."

The PDM – an 11-party opposition alliance formed with the avowed aim to dislodge the PTI government – claims that the election of Gilani from one of the two Senate seats of Islamabad will be like a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The ECP has accepted the nomination papers of Federal Minister for Water Resources Vawda, who will contest the Senate elections from Sindh.

Vawda, accompanied by his supporters, reached the ECP, Sindh and went to the office of the returning officer.

Lawyers petitioning against him tried entering the office but were barred by the ECP staff and the police upon which slogans were chanted.

Further, PTI’s MPA Zainab Omar had challenged the nomination of PML-N leader Rashid in the ECP through her lawyer Rana Mudassar on January 17.

The petition contended that Rashid submitted his nomination papers for the general seat, whereas the affidavit put forward was for the technocrat one. The PTI also alleged that Rashid had revealed national secrets and spoken against the government institutions.

It added that the PML-N leader was a defaulter of huge amounts (Rs9.5 million) of payments owed to the parliament lodges [Punjab House]. The petitioner maintained that Article 63-b of the Constitution was clear in this regard and thus the candidate should be disqualified from contesting any election.

After hearing the arguments of the parties, the returning officer rejected Rashid’s nomination papers.

However, the PML-N leader has decided to challenge the rejection of his nomination papers and approach the election tribunal.