ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said 170 candidates submitted their nomination papers with Returning Officers (ROs) for contesting the election on Senate vacant seats to be held on 3 March 2021.
The polling will be held on March 3 on 48 seats, two in Islamabad, 11 each in Punjab and Sindh, and 12 each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan that will fall vacant on the expiration of the term of the members.
According to the ECP, 29 candidates have filed their nomination papers from Punjab, 39 from Sindh, 51 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 41 from Balochistan and 10 from federal capital.
The ECP said 40 nomination papers have been submitted for Women’s seats while 10 for Non-Muslim and 33 nomination papers have been submitted for Technocrats and Ulema seats besides 87 for General seats.
Earlier, the commission had extended the date for filing nomination papers for the Senate election from February 13 to February 15 on written and verbal requests from various forums to facilitate the candidates.
The commission said that the ECP had appointed five Returning Officers for Islamabad and four provinces.
As per the schedule, the polling would be held from 0900 hours to 1700 hours simultaneously in Parliament House, Islamabad, and provincial assembly buildings in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
A public notice has already been issued by returning officers for inviting nomination papers. The nominated candidates will be announced on February 16, while the date for scrutiny of nomination papers will be February 17 to February 18.
The last dates for filing of appeals against acceptance or rejection of nominations will be February 20 while the dates for disposal of appeals by the Tribunals will be February 23.
The date of publication of a revised list of candidates will be February 24 while the date for withdrawal of candidature will be February 25.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called an emergency meeting of the PTI parliamentary board after party workers raised voice over the distribution of tickets in the Senate elections.
According to details, the premier consulted party leaders on the issue of tickets and indicated that some decisions might be changed. “All tickets will be issued on the basis of merit,” the prime minister told the participants of the meeting.
PM Imran Khan said that he respects the wishes of his party’s members, adding that parachuters will not be made senators.
PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter raised objections over the nomination of Najibullah Khattak, while PTI Sindh said they had a problem with the selection of Faisal Vawda and Saifullah Abro.
