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- March 14, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) released the calendar for the 48 Senate seats that will be up for election on April 2. According to the schedule set forth by the electoral body, returning officers (ROs) will publish a notice to the public today requesting potential candidates to submit their nomination papers. This will be followed by a review procedure and an appeals process.
This comes as the ECP stated on Monday that elections would be held to fill the Senate seats left vacant by the existing senators’ six-year terms ending on March 11. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution eliminated the four reserved seats for the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), hence the elections would only be held on 48 seats. Assembly members from Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will cast ballots to choose representatives in opposition to seven general seats, two seats for women, and two seats for technocrats, including ulema.
The assembly of Punjab and Sindh would also vote on one seat each for non-Muslims. It further stated that senators from the National Assembly will choose one senatorial seat for general representation and one seat reserved for technocrats, which will include Ulema from the federal capital.
According to the ECP’s timeline;
- Nomination paper submission is scheduled for March 15–16.
- Candidates’ nominations are published on March 17.
- The deadline for reviewing nomination documents is March 19.
- The deadline for submitting appeals against nomination approval or rejection is March 21.
- March 25 is the deadline for the tribunal to decide appeals.
- March 26: Release of the updated list of candidates.
- The deadline to withdraw from consideration is March 27.
- April 2 is Election Day.
The four provincial assemblies and Parliament House in Islamabad will host polling places for the Senate elections from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Returning officers (ROs) for the Senate election in Islamabad and the four provinces were appointed by the electoral authority last week. The Returning Officer (RO) in the federal capital will be ECP Director General Training Saeed Gul. In the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, the ROs will be Aijaz Anwar Chohan, Sharifullah, Shamshad Khan, and Muhammad Farid Afridi, respectively.
Scheduled at the same time as by-elections for six Senate seats are being held in Sindh, Balochistan, and Islamabad, the seats being vacated due to the Constitution’s Article 223 ban on MPs holding more than one membership.