Nominations of 144 candidates accepted, 37 rejected

ISLAMABAD: Nomination papers of 144 candidates were found to be in order for the Senate’s 52 seats, while papers of 37 candidates were rejected, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday completed scrutiny of the nominations.
Against 33 seats of the Upper House of Parliament, 116 nomination papers were filed, and 32 of these were rejected while 84 were declared validly nominated.Only one woman candidate’s nomination papers out of total 28 filed were rejected while the rest i.e. 27 were found to be valid for the nine reserved seats of the women.
Twenty-six nomination papers were filed against eight reserved seats for Ulema/technocrats. Of these, two were rejected while 24 were declared valid. Similarly, for the two seats of non-Muslims, 12 nomination papers were filed, among which three were rejected and nine were found to be valid.
Nomination papers of nine candidates for the Senate’s two seats from the federal capital were found in order, while 34 nomination papers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also declared valid and three were rejected.
For the Senate’s four seats for Fata, nomination papers of 20 candidates were declared valid.Candidates can file appeals against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers on February 23-24 while appeals will be disposed of on February 26-27 and the final list of candidates is to be displayed on February 28. On the same day, nominations can be withdrawn.
Online adds: The ECP accepted nomination papers of all Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominees for the Senate polls except for one leader, whose papers were rejected on grounds of tax default.
Sources said that the ECP accepted the nomination papers of PML-N leaders including Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervaiz Rashid, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum, Chaudhry Ashraf Gujjar and Shaukat Basra, while rejecting the nomination papers of Saud Majid after he was declared Rs5 million tax defaulter by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The ECP also reserved its decision on the nomination papers of PML-N leader Rahila Magsi after her degree was challenged. Magsi has also been declared a defaulter as she has failed to clear utility bills besides failing to return a loan. The ECP has given her time to clear all the objections before allowing her to contest the elections.
Similarly, the ECP also accepted the nomination papers of BNP nominees, Dr Jahanzeb Jamal Din and Sana Jamali, while reserving judgments on nomination papers of Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP) nominee Dr Manaf Tareen and National Party nominee Yasmin Baloch.The ECP also accepted nomination papers of Jamiat Ahle Hadith chief Sajid Mir after objections were removed.