Two senior politicians, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Aitzaz Ahsen and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Ishaq Dar, have been elected to the Senate unopposed on two technocrats’ seats from Punjab.
Dar and Ahsen were the only two candidates for the two seats reserved for technocrats from Punjab, and were therefore elected unopposed. Kamran Michael is also set to be elected to the minority seat reserved for Punjab.
For the remaining 52 seats, 164 candidates from all major political parties have filed their nomination papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to contest the Senate elections, scheduled to be held on March 2.
Five candidates submitted their nomination papers for elections on two seats reserved for the federal capital. Members of the National Assembly will vote for one general seat and one reserved for technocrats from Islamabad.
The candidates for the Islamabad seats are PML-Quaid’s Syed Mushaid Hussain, PPP’s Usman Saifullah, and the PML-N’s Dr Mazhar Hussain and Umar Mughal.
According to the ECP, 25 candidates filed their nomination papers for 12 seats from Punjab, whereas 32 candidates filed papers for 12 seats from Sindh.
Similarly, for 12 seats reserved for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 38 candidates submitted their nomination papers while for 12 seats reserved for Balochistan, 51 candidates submitted their nomination papers.
Sixteen candidates filed nominations for four seats reserved for FATA. The 12 National Assembly members from the tribal areas will elect the four candidates.
Those who submitted their nomination papers for FATA seats are Hameed-Ullah Jan Afridi, Aurangzeb Khan, Jalal-ur-Rehman, Malik Abdul Rehman, Abdul Waheed Khan, Muhammad Salah Shah, Sahibzada Abdul Salam, Munir Orkazai, Dr Abul Qadir, Sajid Hussain Turi, Najumul Hasan, Jawad Hussain, Hidayat Ullah, Bismilah Khan, Abdul Malik and Hussain Khan.
Members of the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan will each elect seven members for general seats of the Senate, two for seats reserved for women and two technocrats (including clerics). In addition, MPAs from Punjab, KP, Balochistan and Sindh will elect to the Senate one member each for the four seats reserved for Non-Muslims/minorities.
In the wake of the Senate elections, the ruling alliance in KP – the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – has already agreed to jointly contest the election under a formula and divided seven general, two technocrat and women seats besides one minority seat.
The ANP with 48 MPAs and PPP with 30 MPAs in the House of 124, have distributed 12 general seats, two technocrat, women and minority seats and held negotiations with the provincial leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) having 15 MPAs. Sources in the KP Election Commission said a total of 38 candidates had filed their nomination papers for seven general seats, two each for technocrats and women reserved seat and one for minority seats from KP in the Senate.
Another 11 candidates, including Mohammad Ali Saif of the All Pakistan Muslim League, submitted their papers for the general seats. Nisar Mohammad Khan and Asif Karim of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Ashraf Ali of the JUI-F, Ammar Ahmad Khan, Ahmad Fahim Khan, Mohammad Ali Khan, Shah Faisal, Mohammad Tahir Khan and Nek Mohammad Khan applied for general seats as independent candidates.
Robina Khalid of the PPP, independent candidates Tabinda Zafar and Begum Tahira Bukhari filed their papers for reserved women seats.
PML-N Central General Secretary Engineer Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Razaullah Khan of the ANP, Mohammad Ali Saif, and Mohammad Intikhab Khan filed their nomination papers for technocrats’ seats while Waqas Qayum Gill and Gul Zari Lal Singh submitted their papers for the minorities’ seat from KP.
Meanwhile, PPP Balochistan President Mir Sadiq Ali Umrani said the party was in touch with allies to nominate joint candidates to get all 12 of their nominees elected unopposed.
He said the party’s parliamentary board, headed by Faryal Talpur, had awarded party tickets to six candidates for the Senate elections in Balochistan. They included Sardar Fateh Mohammad Mohammad Hasni, Barrister Saifullah Khan Magsi, Mohammad Yousaf Baloch on general seats, Rozi Khan Kakar on technocrat seat, Perveen Mengal on women’s seat and Hina Gulzar on minorities’ seat.
Aitzaz Ahsan has received his fee for contesting PM's case in Supreme Court. Jeay Bhutto – Jeay Zardari !!!
M. R@fique Zakaria
Karachi.
Aitzaz deserved it and would have always been an automatic choice. Even terrorists, mass murderers, rapist and those doing henious crimes are entitled to defence through attorney. Prime Minister Gilani should be no exception and he cannot be.
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