ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan announced on Monday that elections would be held on March 3 to fill the Senate seats due to fall vacant on March 11 with the retirement of 52 senators.

According to the schedule announced by the ECP, returning officers will invite nominations through public notices to be issued on Feb 2. The nominations to be filed on Feb 12 and 13 will be scrutinised on Feb 16 and 17 and appeals against their acceptance or rejection may be filed on Feb 20 and 21 and disposed of by the ECP on Feb 23 and 24.

Feb 25 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidatures and the final list of candidates will be published the same day.

The polling will be held at the parliament house and the four provincial assembly buildings on March 3 from 9am to 4pm.

While the PTI is likely to get representation in the upper house for the first time and bag four to five seats from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), Jamaat-i-Islami will get representation after a gap of around six years.

The 52 senators retiring on March 11 include 21 of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — Jahangir Badar, Kazim Khan and Sughra Imam from Punjab; Rehman Malik, Farooq Naek, Salim Mandviwala, Islamuddin Sheikh, Maula Bux Chandio, Abdul Qayyum Soomro, Gul Muhammad Lot and Almas Perveen from Sindh; Gulzar Ahmed Khan, Waqar Ahmed Khan, Sardar Ali Khan, Adnan Khan and Farhat Abbas from KP; Sabir Baloch, Mir Yousuf Badini and Surriya Amiruddin from Balochistan and Nayyar Bokhari and Dr Saeeda Iqbal from Islamabad.

Prominent among the retiring senators from other parties are: PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Mushahidullah Khan, Pervez Rashid, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Prof Sajid Mir, Najma Hameed and Sardar Yaqoob Nasir (PML-N); Babar Ghouri and Abdul Haseeb Khan (MQM); Afrasiab Khattak, Abdul Nabi Bangash, Haji Adeel and Zahid Khan (ANP); Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Haji Ghulam Ali (JUI-F), Hasil Bizenjo (NP); Kulsoom Parveen (BNP-A) and Humayun Mandokhel and Abbas Khan Afridi.

Nominations to be filed on Feb 12 and 13

Although the polls will reduce the PPP’s numerical strength, it will still be the single largest party in the upper house. It is likely to regain all eight seats from Sindh and have a total of 27 senators in the 104-member house.

Among the 21 retiring PPP senators, eight are from Sindh, five from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three each from Punjab and Balochistan and two from Islamabad.

Among 52 retiring senators, eight are from the PML-N, six are from ANP, three each from MQM and JUI-F, two from BNP-A and one each from PML-Q, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Party (NP). There are six independent senators, including four from Fata, who will retire this year.

Under the Constitution, half members of Senate, which has an equal representation from the four provinces and representation from the Federal Capital, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, retire after every three years.

Published in Dawn January 20th , 2015

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