The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced that Senate elections would be held on March 5, instead of March 3.Submission of nomination papers for the Senate elections on 52 seats began on Thursday and will continue till Friday. Meanwhile, it has been made necessary for the candidates to be present while submitting their nomination papers.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on February 16 and 17. Appeals against the rejections of nomination papers could be filed on February 20 and 21, appeals would be settled by February 23 and 24 and a list of final candidates will be issued on February 25. Polling in National and four provincial assemblies will be held on March 5.
According to the ECP, presence of candidates at the time of submitting nomination papers will be mandatory, besides Senate candidates will have to submit Rs 2,000 along with their nomination papers. The nomination papers of Senate's candidates will be scrutinised in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the ECP on Thursday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) chairman Imran Khan's request whereby he had sought disqualification of National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. According to the ECP, such a decision will be taken by the election tribunal.