All candidates from Punjab elected unopposed to Senate

LAHORE: After the withdrawal of seven more nomination papers by candidates on Thursday, all candidates from Punjab for the Senate elections were declared elected unopposed on general seats.

According to the provincial election commission sources, the candidates who were declared elected unopposed on general seats were: Kamil Ali Agha, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Afnan-Ullah Khan, Aon Abbas, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Sajid Mir and Irfan-ul-Haq Siddiqui.

The sources said the notification of the elected candidates would be issued, along with other elected Senate candidates across country after March 3.

Azam Nazir Tarar and Barrister Syed Ali Zafar had already been declared elected unopposed on the technocrat seats, while Zarqa Suharwardy and Saadia Abbasi were declared elected unopposed on the women seats. Thursday was the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers.

The candidates who withdrew their nomination papers on Thursday were Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Zahid Hamid, Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Azeem-ul-Haq Minhas and Saif-ul-Malook Khokhar on general seats.

After the withdrawal of the seven nomination papers, a total of seven candidates were left in the run for Senate elections on seven general seats, who were declared elected unopposed consequently. A day earlier, after display of revised list of candidates from Punjab, four candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers. The candidates were Saud Majeed, Ijaz Hussain Minhas and Muhammad Khan Madni on general seat, besides Saira Tarar on the women’s seat.

A total of forty-eight senators are to be elected, 12 each from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while eleven each from Punjab and Sindh, and two from Islamabad in the elections, which will be held on March 3 on the vacant seats of Senate.