ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced the schedule for elections to fill forty-eight vacant Senate seats.
Polling is slated for the second of the upcoming month, with voting hours set from 9 am to 4 pm. Candidates may submit their nomination papers to the returning officers starting tomorrow until Saturday.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on the 19th of this month, followed by the issuance of a revised candidates’ list on the 26th. Withdrawal of nomination papers is permitted until the 27th of this month.
In the federal capital, National Assembly members will elect Senators for one general seat and one technocrat seat, including Ulema.
Each of the four provincial assemblies will elect Senators for seven general seats, two women seats, and two technocrat seats, including Ulema. Additionally, one seat for non-Muslims will be filled from both Punjab and Sindh provinces.
These vacancies emerged after the incumbent members’ terms expired on the 11th of this month.
It’s noteworthy that the ECP clarified that polling for four Senate seats reserved for the erstwhile tribal areas will not take place. These seats were abolished following the merger of tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.
The ECP outlined that Senate polls will be conducted for seven general seats, two women seats, two technocrat seats, and one minority seat in Punjab. Similarly, in Sindh, twelve seats will be contested in the mentioned categories, while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the elections will take place for eleven seats only.
