ECP issues schedule for Senate election to fill Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar’s seat

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to conduct an election on December 8 in the Sindh Assembly for a general seat of the Senate that has fallen vacant after the resignation of Pakistan Peoples Party senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.

In a notification, the ECP has called upon the members of the Sindh Assembly to elect a member of the Senate from the province for the vacant general seat. On November 10, Khokhar had in person met the Senate chairman and presented his resignation, which was accepted the same day.

On Wednesday, the ECP appointed returning and polling officers to fill the Senate seat from Sindh. According to the ECP notification, Sindh Election Commissioner Aijaz Anwer Chohan has been appointed as the returning officer. The duties of polling officers will be performed by Joint Provincial Election Commissioner Sindh Ali Asghar Sial, Regional Election Commissioner Shaheed Benazirabad Syed Nadeem Haider, Regional Election Commissioner Karachi Nazar Abbas, and District Election Commissioner Sanghar Shahnawaz Brohi.

The returning officer will invite nomination papers today (November 17), after which the candidates could file nomination papers from November 18 to November 22. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on November 25. The last date for filing appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers will be November 28.

As per the schedule, the election tribunal will hear the appeals on December 1 and the following day, a revised list of the candidates will be issued. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature will be December 3, after which the members of the Sindh Assembly will cast votes to elect a senator on December 8.