ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has revised Senate elections schedule and extended till February 15 the date for submission of nomination papers for the polls while the polling date of March 3 would remain unchanged.
The decision has been taken to facilitate the aspiring candidates in exercise of powers under Article 218 (3) read with section 128 of the Elections Act 2017, the Commission said on Saturday.
According to the revised polls’ schedule, filing of nomination papers that started on February 12 would now continue till February 15 instead of February 13, publication of nominated candidates’ names: February 16 instead of February 14, scrutiny of nomination papers: February 17-18 instead of February 15-16, filing of appeals against acceptance/rejection of nominations: February 19-20 instead of February 17-18, disposal of appeals by the tribunal: February 22-23 instead of February 19-20, revised list of candidates: February 24 instead of February 21 and withdrawal of candidature (if any): February 25 instead of February 22.
Polling would be held at Parliament House and all the four provincial legislatures.
Some 52 senators are retiring but elections would be held on 48 seats and four Senate seats would stand abolished with effect from upcoming Senate polls. Following FATA’s merger into KP, four erstwhile FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) seats would be abolished in upcoming elections following the retirement of the four senators while as many seats would be abolished in Senate elections scheduled in 2024 following the scheduled retirement of the remaining four senators elected on erstwhile FATA seats.
Senate polls would be held on 12 seats each of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, 11 seats each of Punjab and Sindh and two seats of Islamabad.
In each province, the elections would be held on seven General seats, two Women seats and two Technocrats/Ulema seats. In KP and Balochistan, elections would be held on one seat each for non-Muslims. Elections on the remaining two Non-Muslims seats; one each of Punjab and Sindh, are scheduled in 2024.
In 104-seat Senate, each province has 23 seats—14 general seats, four Women seats, four Technocrats/Ulema seats and one Non-Muslim seat. Erstwhile FATA has eight General seats and Islamabad has four seats—two General and two Women.
Half of the Senate membership retires every three years after completing its term. After the abolition of eight erstwhile FATA seats, the number of Senate seats would be reduced to 96 with 48 senators retiring every three years.
As of now, it is unclear whether Senate elections would be held on open ballot system or secret ballot. President Arif Alvi has recently promulgated an ordinance for open ballot in Senate elections. The ordinance is linked to the decision of Supreme Court that is hearing a presidential reference on open ballot. If Supreme Court’s decision is not arrived regarding presidential reference before Senate elections or if the Apex Court does not rule in favour of the federal government, then the Senate polls would be held on secret ballot, Business Recorder has learnt.
In December last year, federal government said it wanted ‘early’ Senate elections. This attracted strong criticism from opposition parties that were of the view that ECP, not federal government, was empowered to hold Senate polls.
In the backdrop of this controversy, ECP finally issued a statement in December which said “Last four or five Senate elections were held in the first week of March. The ECP would announce at an appropriate time the date for Senate elections in the form of elections’ schedule, as per law and Constitution.”
The constitutional timeframe for Senate polls is February 10 - March 11 keeping in view Article 224(3) as the term of 52 senators expires on March 11 this year.
Article 224(3) reads, “An election to fill the seats in the Senate which are to become vacant on the expiration of the term of the members of the Senate shall be held not earlier than thirty days immediately preceding the day on which the vacancies are due to occur.”
Senators including Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla, Leader of the Opposition Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader Sherry Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq as well as Abdul Rehman Malik, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Atta Ur Rehman, Chaudhry Tanvir, Farooq Naek, Khushbakht Shujaat, Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Muhammad Ali Saif, Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Muhammad Usman Kakar, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Pervaiz Rasheed, Sajid Mir among others would retire from Senate on March 11.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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