QUETTA: After withdrawal of nomination papers by five candidates, there are now four people in the field to contest the election on a vacant seat of the Senate from Balochistan.

They are Mir Khalid Bizenjo of the Balochistan Awami Party, Ghousullah of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Dr Munir Ahmed of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Mohammad Ali of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M).

The seat of the upper house of parliament fell vacant after the death of the National Party’s (NP) founder Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo on Aug 20.

The provincial officials of the Election Commission said that five out of nine candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers for the Senate seat.

The NP has already announced it will not take part in the election for the vacant Senate seat. The party had no representation in the Balochistan Assembly as it did not win a single seat of the provincial assembly in the 2018 general election.

The BNP-M had offered its support to the National Party in the election for the Senate seat, but the NP leadership decided not to award party ticket to anyone, including the son of Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo.

Polling for the Senate seat will be held on Sept 12 in the Balochistan Assembly.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2020