Live: Elections 2024

Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari has filed her nomination papers for Nawabshah’s NA-207 seat, which was vacated by her father Asif Ali Zardari after he was elected president of the country.

The PPP shared a video on X of people showering her with flower petals on the occasion.

Former PTI senator Walid Iqbal has joined other party leaders, including Sher Afzal Marwat, in criticising the decision to join the Sunni Ittehad Council in a bid to secure reserved seats.

In an interview with DawnNewsTV, Iqbal stated it would have been wiser to have joined a party that had submitted a list of reserved seats, adding that it would have reduced legal and constitutional challenges for the PTI.

On the upcoming Senate polls, he said, “Well, I am not a crystal ball but I have seen surprises in the Senate [elections] before.”

Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza has said that the decision of PTI-backed independent candidates to join his party was made by ex-premier Imran Khan.

During an interview with DawnNewsTV, when asked about PTI potentially wanting to get back its candidates, Raza said, “I have no issues.”

“Our settlement [with the PTI] was temporary,” the SIC chief further said, adding that it was done to “secure” PTI candidates.

PTI MNA Sher Afzal Marwat has cancelled a press conference scheduled for 4pm today, he said in a post on X.

It was not immediately clear what the now-cancelled media talk was about or who had to hold it.

PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh has met party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to discuss the current political situation.

In a post on X, Sheikh said Gohar accepted his invite to a “Million March” taking place in Karachi on April 21.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has urged the PTI supporters, who he claimed were behind a vicious social media campaign against the armed forces after yesterday’s attack, to “unite for national peace”.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said, “I am here to request that we should unite for national unity and peace. There are some red lines that should not be crossed.”

“Do political criticism; criticism not for the sake of criticism but constructive criticism,” he stated, asserting that action would be taken against those responsible for the said social media campaign.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has emphasised “political stability” while assuring the public that the government was working with full force to bring economic stability.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said, “I think not a single day goes by that prime minister sahib does not do a meeting about the economy.”

“The government’s priorities are very clear; financial stability results only from political stability and we are working very hard on this,” Tarar added.

Former PTI minister Shireen Mazari has termed the upcoming Senate polls an “electoral circus”, citing the candidature of ex-caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar and former caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

In a post on X, she said, “So now we have Kakar and Mohsin Naqvi both being sneaked into Senate. For the parties putting up these two, clearly the Constitution is of no relevancy.

“There is also Aimal Wali changing his domicile to sneak into the Senate. Earlier we saw caretaker minister [Sarfraz] Bugti resign and be cleared for elections,” she recalled.

“What an electoral circus!”

PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan has said that alleged “forgery” in the general election results is leading to “such a situation which can include extreme disorder and even violence”.

In a written statement shared on X, Hasan said, “This forgery has neither yielded any results yet nor will do [in the future].”

He warned that the people’s sentiments were in chaos and their “patience was at its limit”.

Azhar Mashwani, the focal person for social media to PTI Founder Imran Khan, has said that Lahore party worker Waqas Aslam has been released from jail after “10 months”.

The process of filing nomination papers for elections on 48 vacant seats of the Senate has concluded at the National Assembly and all four provincial assemblies, Radio Pakistan reports.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out on Tuesday. According to the schedule, polling will be held on April 2.

A revised list of the candidates will be issued on March 26 and the candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by the next day.

In the federal capital, MNAs will elect members of the Senate against one general seat and one seat for technocrats, including Ulema.

Members of the four provincial assemblies will elect senators for seven general seats, two women seats, and two seats for technocrats, including Ulema from each province, as well as one seat for non-Muslims from both Punjab and Sindh.

In KP, 42 candidates are in the run for 11 Senate seats, including 25 on seven general seats, 10 on two reser­ved seats for technocrats, and seven on two reserved seats for women.

The list of candidates finalised by the PTI shows that the party has chosen its “hawks” for future politics. Some PTI’s candidates for Senate seats are either in jail or their nomination papers to contest Feb 8 elections had been rejected. Some of them remained underground or had to exit the country.

A party official told Dawn that Azam Swati and Murad Saeed wanted to contest the general elections, but their nomination papers were rejected. He said Swati remained under arrest.

Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed Khan, Mirza Afridi, Irfan Saleem and Khurram Zeeshan will be the party’s candidates for general seats from KP, while Azhar Mashwani would be the covering candidate of Murad Saeed.

Read more here.

As many as 35 candidates of different political parties, including PPP, MQM-Pakistan and the SIC as well as independents have submitted their nomination papers for the upcoming Senate elections on 12 seats in Sindh.

The 12 seats comprise seven general, two each for women and technocrats and ulema, and one seat for non-Muslims.

According to the provincial election commissioner, 21 aspirants have filed papers for general seats, five for technocrats and ulema, six for women and three for the category of non-Muslims.

Read more here.

After ex-PTI lawmaker Maleeka Bokhari said she had been informed her name had been removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) upon Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s “intervention”, the former asked the latter to not use the move as a “social media campaign”.

Sharing a post by PML-N MPA Hina Pervez Butt which contained screengrabs about Maryam’s “immediate action” and “timely intervention” on the matter, Bokhari said, “Please stop using my lawful right to travel to see my sister one last time before she dies as your social media campaign for compassion.”

Bokhari had earlier urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to give her “one-time permission to be with my sister”, who was “on life support on a ventilator” in Australia.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has alleged that the PTI, “by holding protests outside the IMF office [and] demanding stricter terms for Pakistan” was committing “economic terrorism” against the country.

In a post on X, the PML-N leader said, “By holding protests outside the IMF office to stop Pakistan’s financial aid, demanding stricter conditions for Pakistan and conducting a vile campaign abroad against the Pakistan Army, the PTI is committing economic terrorism against Pakistan.”

A spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan has said a total of 36 candidates have submitted nomination papers for 11 Senate seats from Balochistan, APP reports.

A total of 28 candidates have submitted their nomination papers for election to 12 Senate seats in Punjab, APP reports.

According to a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial election commissioner, 16 candidates submitted their nomination papers for seven general seats.

Additionally, four candidates submitted nomination papers for two technocrat seats.

For the two women seats, five candidates submitted their nomination papers. Furthermore, three candidates submitted their nomination papers for one minority seat.

PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan has said the party has prioritised party workers over “investors” for Senate candidates.

Talking on Geo News show ‘Naya Pakistan’, he said the issue of the Senate candidates was discussed between party founder Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

Former caretaker prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has submitted nomination papers for the vacant Senate seats from Balochistan, APP reports.

“On behalf of former PM Kakar, Senator Danesh Kumar submitted the nomination papers,” an Election Commission of Pakistan spokesman said.

PPP leader Dr Ramesh Vankwani has said the party is supporting Mohsin Naqvi in the Senate polls instead of Faisal Vawda.

Former federal ministers Faisal Vawda and Pervaiz Rashid have filed their nomination papers for the forthcoming Senate elections.

Vawda, who was part of the PTI previously, is contesting the Senate polls as an independent candidate from Karachi, while PML-N’s Rashid will be contesting from Punjab, provided that their nomination papers are accepted after the scrutiny process.

In a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, US Ambassador Donald Blome has emphasised the need for parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

In a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat today, Ambassador Blome called on Speaker Sadiq to discuss strengthening of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US.

“The meeting focused on a broad spectrum of issues concerning mutual interests,” the statement said. “Speaker Sadiq reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding and broad-based relationship with the United States, based on principles of mutual respect and trust.”

Ambassador Blome also congratulated Sadiq on his re-election as the speaker.

Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that the incumbent government would topple if JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman decides to embark on a long march, BBC reports

Speaking to reporters at a district and session court in Islamabad, Chaudhry said that no one had any faith in the current government “except for the Modi government and Ayan Ali”.

He said it would be tough for the government to even last till May.

He claimed that no one from the European Union congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on his appointment as the prime minister, adding that the PTI-backed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would play an important role in toppling the government.

“If Maulana Fazlur Rehman decides, the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will turn against the government,” he said.