Senate polls: Papers of Murad Saeed, Mahmood Khan & 10 other candidates rejected

PESHAWAR: The returning officer on Wednesday rejected on different grounds the nomination papers of 12 candidates for the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including those of former federal minister Murad Saeed and erstwhile chief minister Mahmood Khan.

According to the list released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), nomination papers of 16 candidates for the seven general seats were accepted.

They included Faisal Javed, Talha Mahmood, Irfan Saleem, Azhar Mashwani, Dilawar Khan, Niaz Muhammad, Noorul Haq Qadri, Waqas Aurakzai, Attaul Haq, Fida Muhammad, Faizur Rehman, Fazli Hannan, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Shafqat Ayaz, Asif Rafiq and Taj Muhammad Afridi.

The papers of eight candidates for seats reserved for technocrats were accepted. They included Noorul Haq Qadri, Irshad Hussain, Dilawar Khan, Fazli Hannan, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, Waqar Ahmad Qazi, Qaisar Khan and Khalid Masood.

The nomination papers of six candidates Ayesha Bano, Rubina Khalid, Mehwish Ali, Rubina Naz, Shazia and Tahira Bukhari were also accepted for two seats reserved for women.

The returning officer rejected the nomination papers of former chief minister Mahmood Khan, former federal ministers Murad Saeed, Azam Swati, Khurram Zeeshan Advocate, Asif Iqbal, Hammad Mahmood Cheema, Sajjad Hussain, Muhammad Naseem, Ahmad Mustafa, Masoodur Rehman and Hameeda Shahid for different categories.

The candidates, whose papers were rejected, can file an appeal today (March 21) that will be decided by March 25 by the Election Tribunal. The revised list of candidates will be released on March 26. Any candidate can withdraw nomination papers till March 27. The polls for the upper house of parliament are slated for April 2.

Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister’s Adviser on Information Barrister Saif has criticised the rejection of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) hopefuls’ nomination papers for Senate elections.

In a statement, he said the nomination papers of PTI Senate candidates were rejected on frivolous grounds. He said prominent figures like Zulfi Bukhari, Murad Saeed, and Azam Swati were excluded from the Senate race and alleged that it aimed to hinder genuine representation.

He appealed to authorities and decision-makers to uphold the people’s right to representation, stressing that participating in the Senate election is a constitutional, legal and democratic right.

Saif warned against the negative impact on the democratic system if PTI leaders were sidelined from the Senate.