ECP releases final lists of candidates for Senate polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday released the final list of candidates from the four provinces of the country for the Senate elections scheduled for March 3.

According to the details, twenty-seven candidates are contesting from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 33 from Sindh, 20 from Punjab and 25 from Balochistan.

Candidates aspiring to contest elections from Islamabad and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) can withdraw their nomination papers by Wednesday.

According to the list of candidates for the election from Punjab, there are 20 candidates for 12 seats of Senate from the province.

There are 10 candidates for seven general seats in Punjab province while three female candidates are running for two women seats. Five candidates are running for two technocrat seats along with two candidates for one minority seat.

The list includes Ishaq Dar, Asif Kirmani, Rana Maqbool, Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, Shaheen Khalid Butt, Zubair Gull, Haroon Akhtar Khan, Musaddaq Malik, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, Kamran Michael, Nuzhat Sadiq and Sadia Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N)

The candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, Malik Asif Javed, Andleeb Abbas and Victor Azariah.

Shahzad Ali Khan and Muhammad Nawazish Ali are candidates of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) while Kamil Ali Agha is the candidate of Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).

Moreover, thirty-three candidates were left in the field to run for the 12 Senate seats from Sindh.  18 candidates are running for seven general seats, six for two technocrat seats, six female candidates for two women’s seats and three against the lone seat of non-Muslims.

The candidates left in the field in Sindh are: Mian Raza Rabbani, Maula Bux Chandio, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Jamote, Ayaz Ahmed Mahar, Murtaza Wahab and Imamuddin Shaukeen of PPP, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah of Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F), Sarfraz Jatoi of PML-N, Muhammad Kamran Khan Tessori, Ahmad Chinoy and Farhan Chishti of Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Karachi faction, Syed Aminul Haq and Muhammad Farogh Naseem of MQM-P’s Bahadurabad faction, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Mubashir Imam and Advocate Anees Ahmad of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).

The six candidates left in the field for the two women seats in Sindh are Quratulain Marri and Krishna Kohli of PPP, Nasreen Jalil and Kishwer Zehra of MQM-P’s Bahadurabad faction, Mangla Sharma and Nikhat Shakeel Khan of MQM-P’s Karachi faction.

The six candidates left in the field for the two technocrat seats in Sindh are Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro and Rukhsana Zuberi of the PPP, Dr Abdul Qadir Khanzada of MQM-P’s Bahadurabad faction, Syed Ali Raza Abidi and retired Justice Hasan Feroz of MQM-P’s Karachi faction and Muhammad Najeeb Haroon of PTI.

On the lone seat of non-Muslims, three candidates left in the field in Sindh are Anwar Lal Deen of PPP, Sanjay Perwani of MQM-P’s Bahadurabad faction and Mohan Manjiani.

Furthermore, KP office of ECP announced a total of 14 candidates from KP for general seats, five candidates for technocrat seats and eight female candidates for women seats.

Faisal Javed, Ayub Afridi, Khayal Zaman, Fida Muhammad and Abdul Latif Yousafzai are PTI’s candidates, Behramand Tangi and Faisal Sakhi Butt are candidates of PPP, Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Masood Abbas of Awami National Party (ANP), Afzal Jadoon and Pir Sabir Shah of PML-N, Ghufran Khan of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and Gul Naseeb Khan and Talha Mehmood from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) are contesting Senate elections from KP. Azam Khan Swati of PTI, Dilawar Khan of PML-N, Sheikh Yaqoob of JUI-F and Maulana Samiul Haq and Dr Muhammad Nisar are to contest the polls as independent candidates for technocrat seats.

Mehr Taj Roghani and Naureen Farooq of PTI, Raeesa Daud and Sobia Shahid of PML-N, Shagufta Malik of ANP, Rubina Khalid of PPP, Naeema Kishore of JUI-F and Aneesa Zaib of QWP are taking part in polls on seats reserved for women.

25 candidates will contest Senate elections from Balochistan. According to ECP, Monday was the last day for the withdrawal of nomination papers from Balochistan.