ECP gets 19 appeals against rejection of papers

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has received around 19 appeals against rejection of nomination papers and 11 applications for rejection of nomination papers of the Senate election candidates.
Eighteen of those who filed appeals are from the Fata and one from the Punjab. Prominent among those against whom applications have been submitted for rejection of their nominations include the sitting Federal Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq and Abdur Rehman Malik from the Punjab.
It is interesting to note that one Shahid Jami, reportedly from Lahore, has filed five applications, challenging the candidature of as many candidates, including Pervaiz Rashid, Raja Zafarul Haq, Rehman Malik, Waqar Ahmad Khan and Ammar Ahmad Khan.
Similarly, Muhammad Ali has challenged the nominations of Waqar Ahmad Khan and Ammar Ahmad Khan. Both brothers hail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.One of the prominent candidates Nargis Faiz Malik, who belongs to PPP, has challenged the nomination of Raheela Magsi, who hails from Tando Allahyar district of Sindh but has applied for the Senate polls from the federal capital.
All the 11 applications have been filed under Section 13 (6) of the Senate Elections Act, 1975. Those, who submitted appeals against the rejection of their nominations include Munir Khan Orakzai, Rahat Yousaf, Abdul Malik Qadri, Abdul Qadir and Dr. Aurangzeb Khan.
It is significant to note that the Punjab P Coop. Bank, Lahore has also challenged the nomination of Ammar Ahmad Khan, whereas Muhammad Ali has challenged the nomination papers of both Khan brothers.
“The issue of candidates from one province applying from the other is more serious than the matter relating to show of hands of voting,” contended sources in Parliament and the Election Commission.
They pointed out that it was needless to say that the Punjab had more than half of the National Assembly’s seats but to stop its dominance also in the Senate, equal representation was given to all the four federating units in the upper house of parliament in order to strengthen the federation as well as parliament.
“However, the new trend of candidates like Raheela Magsi and Malik and some others applying from other provinces is likely to undermine the representation of the provinces. For instance, if Raheela Magsi gets elected from Islamabad as senator, how she will look after the interests of the federal capital, having spent her life in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar,” they argued. Malik was also elected senator from Sindh earlier, whereas he hails from the Punjab.
It is quite likely that the federal capital may not get any local elected to the Senate during the upcoming Senate election. The PML-N’s other candidate from Islamabad is Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, who has been senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa earlier, as he belongs to Peshawar.