PESHAWAR: Provincial Election Commissioner Sharifullah on Tuesday released the names of 51 candidates for 12 seats in the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 27 of them belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Mr Sharifullah, who is the returning officer for the March 3 electoral exercise in the province, released four lists of candidates, who filed nomination papers in four categories, including seven general seats, two seats each reserved for women and technocrats, and a seat reserved for non-Muslims.

According to the election schedule, the nomination papers will be scrutinised on Feb 17 and 18, while appeals against their rejection or acceptance will be received on Feb 19 and 20.

The appeals will be disposed of on Feb 22 and 23 and the revised list of candidates will be released on Feb 24.

27 candidates belong to Tehreek-i-Insaf

The last date for the withdrawal of nomination papers is Feb 25, while polling will be held on Mar 3 inside the provincial assembly’s building.

Twenty-two candidates have filed papers for general seats, 13 for seats reserved for women, 11 for seats reserved for technocrats and five for a seat reserved for non-Muslims.

For the Senate general seats, 13 candidates belong to the PTI. They include federal information minister Shibli Faraz, Faisal Saleem Khan, Nasrullah Khan Wazir, Mohsin Aziz, Aurangzeb Khan, Zeeshan Khan Zada, Dost Mohammad Khan, Najiullah Khattak, Mohammad Rizwan Khan, Hamidul Haq, Meena Khan, Sajjad Hussain, and Liaqat Khan Tarakai.

Shibli Faraz, Mohsin Aziz, Sajjad Hussain and Liaqat Tarakai are the sitting senators, whose term in office will expire next month.

Other candidates for general seats are Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman and Mohammad Tariq Khattak of JUI-F, Hidayatullah Khan of ANP, former Senator Farhatullah Babar of PPP, former federal minister Abbas Afridi of PML-N, Attaur Rehman of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), and Taj Mohammad Afridi and Shakil Afridi of BAP (Balochistan Awami Party).

Five nominees of the PTI for seats reserved for technocrats include former MNA Hamidul Haq, Nasrullah Khan Wazir, Dost Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Humayun Khan Mohmand and Dilroz Khan.

Candidates of other parties for technocrat seats are Farhatullah Babar of PPP, Zubair Ali of JUI-F, Rehan Alam Khan of PML-N, Mohammad Iqbal Khalil of JI, Dr Shaukat Jamal Amirzada of ANP, and Mohammad Ali Saif of BAP.

Interestingly, Mohammad Ali Saif, who was elected senator on the MQM ticket from Sindh in the 2015 Senate polls, is now trying his luck from KP on a BAP ticket.

Seven PTI candidates for seats reserved for women include special assistant to the prime minister Sania Nishtar, Farzana Javed, Falak Naz, Zareen Riaz, Saima Khalid, Hamida Shahid and Asmat Ara Kakahel.

Candidates of other parties include MPA Naeema Kishwar of JUI-F, former MPA Shazia Tehmas Khan of PPP, Tasleem Begum of ANP, Farah Khan of PML-N, former MNA Inayat Begum of JI, and Mussarat Jabeen of BAP.

Similarly, five candidates have filed papers for seat reserved for non-Muslims. Among them are Gurdeep Singh and Araish Kumar of PTI, Ranjeet Singh of JUI-F, former MPA Asif Bhatti of ANP, and Javed Gill of JI.

In the 145-member provincial assembly, one seat is vacant for which polling will be held on Feb 19.

Currently, the ruling PTI has 94 MPAs, JUI-F 15, ANP 12, PML-N six, PPP five, BAP four, Jamaat-i-Islami three, PML-Q one, while the assembly has four independent members.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2021