ISLAMABAD: A crucial phase of the Senate elections begins on Thursday as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) takes up appeals against the rejection of candidates’ nomination papers.
The commission fixed Feb 27 as the date for hearing applications against the acceptance of nomination papers.
The two-day process will determine the final list of candidates that is to be published on Feb 28 (Saturday), which will also be the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
In all, 19 appeals against rejection of nomination papers have been filed under Section 13 (5) of the Senate Elections Act, 1975, nearly all of them by independent candidates from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Nomination papers of most of these candidates had been rejected by the returning officer for alleged tax evasion on the basis of reports received from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Those who have filed appeals include PML-N’s Chaudhry Saud Majeed from Punjab. The rest of the appeals were filed by Abdul Malik Qadri, Moulana Abdul Malik Wazir, Pir Mohammad Aqal Shah, Syed Fazal Abbas, Rahat Yousaf, Said Nawab, Malik Aslam Khan, Munir Khan Orakzai, Zar Khan Safi, Engineer Malik Rashid Ahmed Khan, Eid Gul Mengal, Syed Mohammad Hussain, Hafiz Rashid Ahmed, Abdul Qadir, Dr Aurangzeb, Mohammad Kamran Khan, Habib Malik Orakzai and Mohammad Idrees Khan Safi.
In addition, 11 applications had been filed against acceptance of nomination papers, with five of them filed by Lahore-based advocate Shahid Jami, who has challenged the candidature of Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed, PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, former Interior Minister Rehman Malik, former investment minister Waqar Ahmad Khan and his brother Ammar Khan (independents). All the applications have been filed on the basis of allegations of default on loans and utility bills and related matters.
Another individual has also filed applications against the acceptance of the nomination papers of Waqar and Ammar Ahmad Khan. The Punjab Cooperative Bank Limited is also a party in the challenge against Ammar Ahmad Khan.
Nargis Faiz Malik, PPP candidate for a women’s seat from Islamabad, has filed an application against the acceptance of Raheela Magsi’s nomination papers, pointing out that she had transferred her vote from Tando Allah Yar (Sindh) to Islamabad after the election schedule has been announced.
Published in Dawn February 26th , 2015
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