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Tuesday March 19, 2024

131 in the running for Senate polls

ECP issues final list; PPP, MQM candidates elected unopposed; 31 out of 52 retiring senators are not contesting elections

By our correspondents
March 01, 2015
ISLAMABAD: As many as 131 candidates are left in the field for the upcoming Senate elections, according to the final list issued on Saturday by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
For general seats, there were 104 validly nominated candidates, 20 of whom withdrew their nominations and in all 84 will now be vying for representation in the Senate. There were a total of 31 withdrawals.
For women’s reserved seats, 27 were validly nominated, of whom six took back their nominations and now 21 are left in the field. Similarly, for the Ulema and technocrats’ reserved seats, of the 24 validly nominated, six withdrew their nomination papers and 18 are left in the contesting arena.
Nine were validly nominated for the non-Muslims’ reserved seats, one of them withdrew and now eight will contest for the Senate’s two seats.
From the federal capital, no one withdrew nomination papers on the last day, against two seats and there are eight contestants.
There are ten candidates from Punjab, 36 from Fata, eight from Sindh, 12 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 14 from Balochistan for the general seats.
All the electoral processes have now been completed and polling will be held on March 5.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) candidates on Saturday were elected unopposed to the Senate on at least two women’s seats and two seats for technocrats.
PPP’s Sassui Palejo and MQM’s Hina Nighat got elected on the women seats without any opposition while PPP’s Farooq H Naek and MQM’s Barrister Saif have been unofficially elected on the technocrat seats.
MQM’s Ameenul Haq and Waseem Akhtar took their nomination papers back for general seats as did Abdul Qadir Khanzada for a technocrat seat. Similarly, Babar Ghauri and Gulfaraz Khattak took their nomination papers back for a general seat while MQM’s Seema Zarin took her papers back for a woman’s seat.
While talking to the media outside the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP), Sindh Assembly member MQM’s Sardar Ahmed urged the settlement of issues through talks. He said that issues with the PPP regarding the Senate election had been resolved.
Meanwhile, as many as 31 sitting Senators out of 52 outgoing ones are not contesting polls for another stint, including Senate Chairman Sayed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Deputy Chairman Sabir Baloch, former prime minister and President Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badr, Ms Sughra Hussain Imam, former federal ministers Babar Khan Ghauri, Maula Bux Chandio and Chaudhary Jaffar Iqbal.
The PPP is losing 21 seats in the House and is likely to bag eight seats in the contest. It is eying two additional seats so that it can have a say for the top position in the Upper House.
Federal ministers Senators Pervaiz Rashid, Mushahidullah Khan and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Mir Hasil Bizenjo, Farook H Naek, Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Professor Sajid Mir, Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir, Begum Najma Hameed, Islamuddin Shaikh, Rehman Malik, and Saleem Mandviwala will retire on the 11th of March but they will return to the House for six years. The PPP will be the major loser in terms of seats but the ANP, JUI and independent group will also receive a serious setback due to the reduction in their representation in the House.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will be the new entrants to the Upper House.
The sources said that 21 sitting members were trying their luck by staying in the fray but ten would have to face disappointment in the end. Some candidates who are contesting from two smaller provinces are still hopeful of winning the polls.
The sitting members of the PPP, who retire on March 11 but are contesting again, include Saleem Mandviwala, Mir Yousaf Badini, Islamuddin Shaikh, Waqar Ahmad Khan (not on a PPP ticket from KP), Farook H Naek and Rehman Malik. The other sitting members who are trying their luck are: Abbas Khan Afridi (sitting federal minister), Afrasayab Khan Khattak, Engineer Malik Rashid Ahmad, Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Haji Ghulam Ali, Haji Khan Afridi and Ms Kulsoom Parveen (not on a BNP-A ticket but on a PML-N ticket), Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Mushahidullah Khan, Pervaiz Rashid, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Muhammad Idrees Saafi and Professor Sajid Mir. The PML-N has planned to field Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq for the slot of chairman of the house while the PPP will designate Rehman Malik or Farook H Naek. Rehman Malik is publicly refuting the impression of his candidature but he could be compelled by his leadership in the end to contest for the office of the chairman, the sources indicated.