ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) today (Friday) has announced names of candidates for the upcoming Senate election on March 3, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said.
In a tweet, the federal minister announced that the party had finalised the names of most of its candidates. Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Fouzia Arshad are among the party’s Senate hopefuls from Islamabad, while from Sindh, the party has decided to nominate Faisal Vawda.
“From Punjab, Saifullah Niaz, Dr Zarqa and Barrister Ali Zafar will contest the election as PTI candidates, while Saifullah Abro will contest the election for the technocrats seat as the PTI’s candidate,” he added.
سندہ سے فیصل واڈا سینٹ کا الیکشن لڑیں گے اور ٹیکنو کریٹ نشست پر سیف اللہ ابڑو تحریک انصاف کے امیدوار ہوں گے۔ جبکہ بلوچستان سے عبدالقادر کا نام فائنل کیا گیا ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) February 12, 2021
He further wrote, “Shibli Faraz, Mohsin Aziz, Dost Mohammad, Sania Nishtar and Farzana have been included in the list of final names for Senate election candidates. Announcement for the remaining seats will be made later.”
خیبر پختونخواہ سے شبلی فراز، محسن عزیز، دوست محمد، ثانیہ نشتر اور فرزانہ کا نام حتمی فہرست میں شامل کیا گیا ہے باقی نشستوں پر اعلان بعد میں ہو گا۔
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) February 12, 2021
The Senate elections will be held on March 3, according to a notification from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Meanwhile, the ruling PTI has pushed for electoral reforms that would enable show of hands during the upper house’s ballots.
As many as 52 senators are set to retire on March 11 after completing their six-year tenure. However, this time there will be no polling for the four seats of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after its merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In an earlier meeting of the PTI’s parliamentary board, Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that tickets to party candidates for the upcoming Senate elections will be awarded on merit.
“We are trying to ensure that this time around, money does not influence the Senate elections,” he reportedly said. “Aspiring candidates will be judged on their qualifications and services they rendered to the party,” he added.
