ISLAMABAD: The deadline for the submissions for the upcoming Senate polls ended Saturday evening after several candidates submitted their papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the polls.
The newly-appointed federal cabinet members; Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, are among the candidates who have submitted the nominations in the respective ECP offices.
Former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and ex-chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan also submitted their papers for the Senate elections.
Also on Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced that its supremo Imran Khan approved the candidatures of some party leaders from KP and Punjab for Senate polls.
ECP finalises arrangements for conducting Senate by-elections on Thursday
The prominent among them included Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed Khan, Mirza Afridi, Azam Swati, Hamid Khan, Zulfi Bukhari, Sanam Javed Khan and Dr Yasmin Rashid.
The ECP is scheduled to publish the list of Senate poll candidates Sunday (Mar 17).
On Sunday, the scrutiny of nominations would start that would conclude on Tuesday, as per ECP schedule for Senate elections.
Since Monday or March 11, the Upper House of the Parliament is dysfunctional with the retirement of 52 senators, who completed their term, including chairman, deputy chairman, leader of the house and leader of the opposition.
On March 14, by-elections were held on six Senate seats but the candidates who won these polls cannot take oath till new Senate set-up is in place after the upcoming April 2 elections.
The Senate elections are being held on 48 seats; 12 seats of Punjab and Sindh each, 11 seats of KP and Balochistan each, and two seats of Islamabad.
Each province has seven general seats and two seats each reserved for women and Ulema/technocrats where Senate elections are being held.
In Punjab and Sindh, elections are scheduled on one seat each reserved for non-Muslims.
Islamabad has two seats; general and Ulema/tech-nocrats, where elections are scheduled.
Overall, the Senate elections are taking place on 29 general seats, 9 Ulema/technocrats seats, eight women seats and two non-Muslim seats, according to the ECP.
Previously, the Senate had 104 seats which are being reduced phase-wise to 96 seats — with four Senate seats abolished in 2021 Senate elections—reducing the Senate’s strength to 100 seats— and four seats being abolished in the upcoming Senate elections— in accordance with 25th Amendment that envisages abolition of eight seats of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in Senate due to Fata’s merger into KP.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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