ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted on Saturday a 14-member parliamentary board of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N to finalise party tickets to be offered to candidates for contesting the upcoming Senate elections.

According to an official announcement, which was made from the Prime Minister’s Office instead of the party’s central secretariat, Mr Sharif himself is the chairman of the board whereas Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is its convener.

The board comprises Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, secretary general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Pir Sabir Shah, Ismail Rahu, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir, Dr Asif Kirmani and Nuzhat Sadiq.

Sharif will himself head the board

Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervaiz Rashid and Sardar Yaqoob Nasir are among those eight PML-N senators, out of 16, who will stand retired on March 11 after the expiry of their six-year term in the upper house of parliament.

The three senators, sources said, were among those aspiring for the party’s tickets to contest the elections.

Out of the party’s eight retiring senators, seven are from Punjab and one from Balochistan.

The party had invited applications from aspiring candidates last week and Jan 30 was the last date for submission of application forms with a non-refundable fee of Rs50,000.

A source in the party told Dawn that so far the PML-N’s central secretariat had received more than 140 applications. He said though Jan 30 was the deadline, the party would continue to receive applications till the parliamentary board held its first meeting.

Observers believe that with only a few seats available against a large number of aspirants, the PML-N leadership will have to take tough decisions while finalising candidates for the upcoming elections.

A number of party members, including old workers as well as the newcomers, have already started lobbying within the party.

Since Senate elections depend on the party position in four provincial assemblies and the National Assembly, the PML-N is expected to gain almost all the 11 seats from Punjab and two seats from Islamabad whereas the party may get only two to three seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Those PML-N senators retiring from Punjab are Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Environment Minister Mushahidullah Khan, Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Prof Sajid Mir and Najma Hameed. Sardar Yaqoob Nasir is the only PML-N senator retiring from Balochistan.

Polling to elect new senators will be held on March 3, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2015

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