Senate polls: Parties to finalise names by next week

About 500 individuals have obtained nomination forms

ISLAMABAD:

As the date for submitting nomination papers for the March 3 Senate elections draws nearer, all the mainstream political parties are scouting for Senate material and are likely to choose their candidates by next week.

Under the laws, a candidate for the Senate should be a registered voter in the same province that he wants to represent. This is contrary to National Assembly elections, where a voter registered anywhere in Pakistan can contest polls from any constituency across the country or from multiple constituencies.

There are reports that some astute aspirants for Senate tickets from the PML-N shifted their votes to Punjab, where it is likely to grab all the 11 Senate seats.

However, time has elapsed for those who want to change their vote to some other province as the voter’s list is frozen the day election schedule is announced.

Members of Punjab and Sindh assemblies will be electing 11 members each to represent their provinces while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan will elect 12 members each. This year elections will be held for 52 Senate seats.

The National Assembly will elect two senators for the federal capital while 12 Fata members of the National Assembly will elect four senators to represent the restive region in the upper house of parliament.

To be eligible to contest Senate polls, not only a candidate should be registered as voter from of the region from where he/she is contesting polls, but a candidate should also get his/her nomination papers signed by two members of the provincial assembly from where he/she is contesting.

This practice discourages ‘non serious’ candidates from entering the race unless they have the support of two lawmakers.

According to updates from Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a total of around 500 persons have obtained nomination forms from the ECP’s offices across the country.

The ECP’s regional and district offices will remain open on Saturday and Sunday to facilitate interested candidates to get attested certificates from the district election commissioner that the person is registered in that district as a voter.

Tougher criteria for technocrat seats

Eligibility criteria for the two technocrat seats to be contested from each of the four provinces will be toughest. A person to be qualified for a technocrat seat should have at least 16 years of education and distinction in the relevant field.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.