LAHORE: At least 29 candidates have submitted their papers for 11 Senate seats in various categories from Punjab as the time for filing the nominations ended on Monday.

The data shared by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reveals there are 21 candidates in the run for seven general seats, three for two seats of technocrats/ulema and five for as many seats reserved for women in the upper house.

Among those vying for the general seats, 10 aspirants belong to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). They are; Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Muhammad Khan Madni, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Ms Robina Akhtar, Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Aon Abbas, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Hussain Minhas, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary and Ms Neelam Irshad Sheikh.

Similarly, nine of the candidates enjoy the backing of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), including Mushahid Ullah Khan, Pervaiz Rasheed, Saiful Malook Khokhar, Afnan Ullah Khan, Saud Majeed, Zahid Hamid, Sajid Mir, Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman and Irfanul Haq Siddiqui.

The ruling PTI’s ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), which has only 10 members in the Punjab Assembly, has pitched one nominee, Kamil Ali Agha, a loyalist of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat. Likewise, the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also fielded one candidate, Azeem-ul-Haq Minhas, for a general seat though there are only seven MPAs of the party in the provincial house. An aspirant for a general seat in Punjab requires votes of at least 53 provincial legislators.

For the two Senate seats reserved for women, there are five candidates in the run. Three of them, Zarqa Suharwardy, Farhat Shahzadi and Neelam Irshad Sheikh, who is also a candidate for a general seat, claim the PTI support, while two, Saadia Abbasi and Saira Afzal Tarar, are from the PML-N.

There are three candidates for the seats reserved for technocrats/Ulema. Two of them -- Syed Ali Zafar and Atta Ullah Khan -- belong to the PTI, whereas Azam Nazeer Tarar is a PML-N nominee.

Scrutiny of the papers of the candidates will be held on Feb 17 and 18 at the offices of the returning officers, while rejection or acceptance of the nominations may be challenged on Feb 20 and the same will be decided on Feb 23. The candidates may withdraw their documents by Feb 25.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2021