Addressing a press conference, he said 98 papers had been filed for general seats, 35 for seats reserved for women and 25 for Ulema and technocrats.
He said three nominations had been filed for general seats in Islamabad, 17 in Punjab, seven in Sindh, 11 in the NWFP, 26 in Balochistan and 34 from Fata.
For women’s seats, six papers had been filed from Islamabad, six from Punjab, two from Sindh, five from the NWFP and 16 from Balochistan.
For seats reserved for technocrats and Ulema, six nominations were filed from Islamabad, two from Sindh, eight from the NWFP and nine from Balochistan.
The nomination papers will be scrutinised from Saturday and a clearer picture would emerge after Feb 21, the last date for withdrawal.
Answering a question about the possibility of horse-trading, he said there were laws to prevent corruption and the Election Commission would take action if it received “substantial evidence” about someone trying to influence results.
The Senate has 100 seats and terms of half of its members will expire on March 11. Elections will be held on March 4.
The Pakistan People’s Party has fielded 27 candidates, including Law Minister Farooq H. Naek, who is among five retiring senators. The other four, Attorney-General Latif Khosa, Enver Baig, Rukhasana Zubairi and Mumtaz Hussain Mehfooz, have not made it to the final PPP list. The names of presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, Adviser on Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain, veteran party leader from Balochistan Sardar Mirbaz Khaitran and Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin, earlier tipped to be favourites, are also missing from the list.
Gul Mohammad Lot, Islamuddin Sheikh, Maula Buksh Chandio, Dr Khatumal Jeewan and Syed Faisal Raza Abidi filed nomination papers from Sindh for general seats; Farooq Naek and Dr Abdul Rehman Malik for technocrats’ seats, and Almas Parveen for women’s seat.
Gulzar Ahmed Khan, Waqar Ahmed Khan and Sardar Ali Khan field nomination papers from the NWFP for general seats; Adnan Khan for the technocrat seat; and Farhat Abbas for women’s seat.
From Punjab, Jahangir Bader and Salahuddin Dogar of the PPP filed nomination papers for general seats; Kazim Khan for the technocrats’ seat and Sughra Imam for women’s seat.
From Balochistan, Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani, Aurangzeb Alamgir, Sabir Baloch, Suraya Ameeruddin, Hina Gulzar, Abdullah Moosazai and Sardar Tahir for general seats and Saifullah Paracha for technocrats’ seat.
From Islamabad, Nayyar Hussain Bukhari will contest for the general seat and Dr Saeeda Iqbal for women’s seat.
Pakistan Muslim League-N has fielded seven candidates from Punjab and two each from the NWFP and Islamabad.
Prominent among them are chairman of the party Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq, secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, vice-president Syed Zafar Ali Shah and president of the women’s wing Begum Najma Hameed.
Pakistan Muslim League-Q has filed a dozen nomination papers.
Prominent PML-Q candidates are party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, secretary-general Mushahid Hussain, Tahira Latif and Razina Alam Khan.