Assets of Senate candidates challenged

The assets details of four Senate candidates were challenged in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday while the EC Scrutiny Committee rejected nomination papers of two PML-N candidates with minor objections.
Those candidates whose assets declarations were challenged include PPP candidates Aitzaz Ahsan and Dr Babar Awan and PML-N leaders Zulfiqar Khosa and Zafarullah Khan. According to sources, assets decelerations of the said candidates were challenged in the Provincial Election Commission Office, Lahore. Source said that provincial returning officers will examine the objections of the four candidates today (Friday). They said that appeals against rejection and acceptance of nomination papers could be filed on Monday and Tuesday.
Nomination papers could be withdrawn on February 24 and the ECP would issue the final list of contesting candidates on the same day. A senior ECP official said that nominations papers of two PML-N candidates Dr Mazhar and Omar Mughal from Islamabad were rejected with minor objections and they could re-submit nomination papers today (Friday) with complete required credentials. The ECP accepted nomination papers of other two candidates contesting from Islamabad, including PML-Q’s Mushahid Hussain Syed and PPP’s Osman Saifullah.
According to Mushaid’s assets details, he owns assets worth Rs 50 million and during the last three years he paid Rs 17,536 tax. Zulfiqar Khosa owns 99 acres of land, pays agricultural tax worth Rs 7,000 a year and has Rs 0.7 million in his bank account. PPP’s Osman Saifullah has assets worth Rs 280 million. Aitzaz owns 800 acres land and bank accounts worth over Rs 100 million while his wife has Rs 15 million in seven bank accounts.
Awan owns assets worth Rs 700 million in Pakistan, agriculture land worth Rs 20 million, bank accounts worth Rs 70.78 million, investment in a bank and private company worth Rs 30.40 million. He also owns property in Spain worth Rs 20 million and a house in Islamabad worth Rs 30 million. PML-N’s Zafarullah Dhandhla has Rs 0.5 million, two vehicles and 594 kanals of land and pays agricultural tax of Rs 3,000.