KARACHI: 26 qualify for Senate election in Sindh: Seven out of race
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Feb 14: With seven candidates having suffered technical knockout during the scrutiny of the nomination papers for Senate election, the number of contestants, vying for a total of 11 seats from Sindh, has now come down to 26.
Still, the figure includes cover candidates who will quit the contest on February 21, the last day for the withdrawal of candidature, after which a clear picture will emerge to ascertain that who actually are in the fray.
As of this day, a total of 14 candidates have been declared eligible to contest the election for the seven general seats, another five for the two technocrat seats and seven for the two women seats.
The aspirants whose nomination papers have been rejected include Dr Hasan Mehfuz Jalisi and Syed Kabir Ahmad, both independents, who had opted for a general seat. They did not turn up to witness scrutiny of their papers.
Mohammad Owais Siddiqui and Mohammad Hashim Siddiqui of MMA also got their papers rejected. The degree produced by Mr Owais Siddiqui has not been issued by a recognized educational institution, according to the EC officials who also held that Mr Hashim Siddiqui had failed to produce the ticket issued to him by the MMA.
PPP’s Dr Karim Ahmad Khwaja, seeking a technocrat seat, was found ineligible as he could not fulfil the prescribed criteria for becoming a technocrat.
Papers of another candidate, Gul Mohammad, were rejected as they were not supported by any proposer or seconder. The candidate himself also did not turn up to witness the scrutiny of his papers.
The nomination of Ms Saba Rabbani Tiwana, who had opted for a women seat as an independent candidate, was rejected as her proposer and seconder did not appear before the EC officials during the scrutiny process.
Following completion of the scrutiny, the EC issued the list of eligible candidates who are:
GENERAL SEATS: Ahmed Ali and Col (r) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM; Justice (r) Abdul Razzaq Thaheem of the PML-F; Mian Raza Rabbani, Dr Safdar Ali Abbasi, Abdul Latif Ansari and Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra of the PPP; Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi and Kishanchand Perwani of the PML-Q; Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro of the MMA; and Aleem Adil Shaikh, Mir Murtaza Ali Talpur, Ashok Kumar, and Abdul Saeed Qureshi, all independents.
WOMEN SEATS: Ms Abida Saif, Ms Nighat Mirza Hina and Ms Sabira Khatoon of the MQM; Ms Ratna Bhagwandas and Ms Farzana Hanif of the PPP; and Ms Seemeen Siddiqui and
Ms Leela alias Kalpna of the PML-Q.
TECHONOCRAT SEATS: Mohammad Saeed Siddiqui and Prof Abdul Khaliq Pirzada of the MQM; Dr Javaid Laghari of the PPP; Dr Khalid Mahmood Soomro of the MMA; and Syed Mahmood Hashmi of the PML-Q.
Appeals against rejection/ acceptance of the nomination papers are to be decided by February 20. The contestants will be able to withdraw their candidature on Feb 21 and the EC will issue the final list of candidates the next day.
Following is the party position in the 168-strong Sindh Assembly:
PPP 58, MQM 42, PML-Q 36, PML-F 15, MMA 08, Mohajir Qaumi Movement 01, PPP-Patriots and independents 08.
KARACHI, Feb 14: With seven candidates having suffered technical knockout during the scrutiny of the nomination papers for Senate election, the number of contestants, vying for a total of 11 seats from Sindh, has now come down to 26.
