ECP extends date to file nomination papers for Senate polls till February 15

• ECP says date extended after seeing reports on media of difficulties being faced by candidates
• The ECP says it is extending the date through powers conferred under Article 218 (3)
• ECP maintains Senate elections will be held on March 3

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday extended the date to file nomination papers for the Senate election till February 15, but maintained that the polls will be held on March 3 as announced earlier.

The new notification says the date to file nomination papers has been set from February 12 till February 15. 

The ECP said that it was amending the dates after seeing reports in the media that the candidates were facing difficulties in completing legal formalities to file nomination papers.

Read more: PTI finalises Faisal Vawda, Sania Nishtar and others as candidates for Senate elections

The ECP said that it was extending the date through the powers conferred to it under Article 218 (3) read with Section 128 of the Elections Act 2017.

Following the extension, the schedule of the Senate elections will be:

Many parties had called on the ECP to change the dates to file nomination of papers. 

PPP, one of the major opposition parties, had written a letter to the chief election commissioner requesting the ECP a delay in the submission of candidates forms for the upcoming Senate election over time constraints and legal issues.

PPP's Secretary-General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said that the time allowed by the Election Commission of Pakistan for submission of forms is not enough.

The PPP said that a federal party like them needs to conduct an exercise throughout the union council levels to finalise its candidates for the Senate election.

Read more: PPP requests delay in submission of nomination papers for Senate elections

Candidates start filing nomination papers

Meanwhile, candidates who have gotten party tickets have started filing their nomination papers across the country.

PTI candidates Fauzia Arshad and Federal Minister for Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh have submitted their nomination papers for the March 3 elections.

Sheikh, while speaking to the media in Islamabad, said that if he wins the senate seat, he will try to fulfil the promises made by his party with the people. The finance adviser added that the National Assembly members were his electorate and appeared hopeful that the PTI members will back the party candidates.

While opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement joint candidate Yousf Raza Gilani has also submitted his nomination papers. 

The two PTI candidates and Gilani will be contesting on the Senate seats for Islamabad.

Meanwhile, 12 PPP candidates have filed their nomination papers for the senate seats. The candidates that have submitted their nomination papers include Sadiq Ali Memon, Saleem Mandviwala, Sherry Rehman, Dost Ali, Jam Mehtab Hussain, Taj Haider, Shahdat Awan and Farahtullah Babar.

Read more: Jamaat-e-Islami announces Senate election candidates from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The PPP stalwart, Babar, while speaking to the media after submitting his nomination thanked his party and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for giving him the ticket.

The former senator, who is vying a come back in the upper house, said that he has submitted his nomination papers for the general and technocrat seats.

Babar would be contesting the elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The ECP said that PTI’s Hamad ul Haq, JUI-F’s Naeema Kishawar and Maulana Ata ur Rehman, ANP ‘s Hidayataullah, and independent candidate Najeebullah Khalil have submitted also their nomination papers from KP.

All parties are vying for the on 48 seats that will be up for grabs on March 3. 

In the current election two seats for Islamabad, 11 from Punjab, 11 from Sindh, 12 from KP and 12 from Balochistan are up for grabs.