Upper House elections: PPP starts short-listing candidates for Senate

PPPP’s parliamentary board reviews nearly 50 applications from Sindh

KARACHI: As the Senate elections draw closer, the parliamentary board of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) started conducting interviews to short-list potential candidates for the Upper House.

The parliamentary board in its Friday meeting, which was presided over by Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari at the Bilawal House, reviewed around 50 applications from Sindh for the Senate elections to be held on March 3.

Sources in the party revealed that a total of 105 individuals had applied, seeking party tickets on general, technocrat and reserved seats for women.

Attendees at the parliamentary board meeting included former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, MNA Faryal Talpur, Sherry Rehman, Senator Raza Rabbani and PPPP Sindh President Syed Qaim Ali Shah. However, Makhdoom Amin Fahim could not attend the meeting for being out of the country.

The interviews of 55 other candidates from Sindh will continue on Saturday followed by interviews of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Balochistan and Punjab aspirants on Sunday, they added.

Among those whose interviews were conducted included former interior minister Rehman Malik, Gul Mohammad Jakhrani, Professor ND Khan, Maula Bux Chandio, Najmi Alam, Zulfiqar Qaimkhani, Lal Bux Bhutto, Salman Abdullah Murad, Panah Odho, Zahid Bhurgari, Nadeem Bhutto, Jam Tamani Unar, Deedar Hussain and Sarfaraz Rajar.

There are 11 senators who belong to Sindh – eight of the PPP and three of the MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) – who are going to retire in mid-March.

The sources said there will be a few old faces in the PPP who would again be given party ticket or yet another tenure, adding that Rehman Malik, Saleem Mandviwala, Farooq H Naek and Islamuddin Shaikh are among the strong contenders.

The elections are going to be held on seven general, two each for women and technocrats or ulema. Currently, there are 167 members in the Sindh Assembly.

According to the Senate election procedure, around 21 to 22 members of the provincial assembly can elect a senator on a general seat. Meanwhile technocrats or Ulema will be elected with 56 to 57 votes.

The MQM, which has 51 seats in Sindh, is trying to get four Senate seats with the help of PML-F, offering one seat to the latter which has 11 seats in the provincial assembly.

Musharraf eyes Senate seat

On the other hand, former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has reportedly started lobbying to get a Senate ticket for himself.

A report suggested that Musharraf might get an MQM ticket but party leaders are denying it.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2015.