ISLAMABAD: Eight Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidates were accepted on Thursday to contest the upcoming senate elections, out of the 28 received by the Provincial Election Commission (ECP) in Sindh.
PPP’s Rehman Malik, Saleem Mandviwala, Engineer Gianchand, Farooq H Naek and Sassui Palijo are among the other candidates who are now entitled to contest senate election.
The provincial election commission kickstarted the scrutiny process of nomination of candidates contesting the upcoming senate election today and the process will go on till tomorrow.
Speaking to the Express Tribune, the provincial election commissioner SM Tariq Qadri said, ““Today, is the first day and this process will continue by tomorrow evening.”
According to ECP’s record, approximately 13 forms have been filed by candidates belonging to PPP, 12 by those of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), two by Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F) and one by Paksitan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).
MQM has given tickets to Barrister Saif, Mian Ateeq, Babar Ghauri and Nighat Khatoon. Simialrly, PML-F has given the party ticket to Imamuddin Shauqeen.
Once the scrutiny is over, the candidate can file appeals against the rejection of nomination between February 23 and February 24. The dates for the disposal of the appeal have been fixed from February 26 to February 27. The final date for the withdrawal of candidature is February 28 and the final candidate list will be published on the same day, allowing for polling to take place on March 5.
Nomination scrutiny in Punjab
Meanwhile, the provincial election commission in Punjab has raised objections over the nomination papers of Professor Sajid Meer.
Barrister Shahid Jami said that Meer has been a member of the Senate since the past 18 years, but jas not been a part of the legislation.
“He calls himself a scholar but has only published one book in the past 20 years,” he said.
Nomination scrutiny in K-P
A total of 41 candidates from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have filed nominations for the Upper House elections scheduled for March 5.
Speaking about the upcoming elections, Jamaat Islami chief Sirajul Haq said that reports surrounding his withdrawal from candidacy are “baseless”.