ISLAMABAD, FEB 12 – The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has finalised the names of most of its nominees for the upcoming Senate election, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday.

The list of candidates also includes Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh — who will contest for a seat from Islamabad — and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar, one of the nominees from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Shaikh, who is not a member of Parliament, was previously an adviser to the premier on finance and was appointed as finance minister in December last year. However, as per Article 91 (9) of the Constitution, he cannot remain a minister for more than six months until he is elected to one of the houses. Thus he must be elected to the Senate this time around in order to continue as the finance minister after June.

Nishtar, who is part of the PM’s cabinet as a special assistant, is also not a member of Parliament and therefore ineligible to hold the position of a minister.

Faisal Vawda, the federal minister for water resources, is also amongst the list of nominees. He will be contesting on a seat allocated for Sindh, Chaudhry said.

Here is a complete list of the nominated candidates who have been announced so far, and the seats they will be contesting for:

• Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh: Islamabad
• Fauzia Arshad: Islamabad
• Faisal Vawda: Sindh
• Saifullah Niazi: Punjab
• Dr Zarqa: Punjab
• Barrister Ali Zafar: Punjab
• Abdul Qadir: Balochostan
• Shibli Faraz: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Mohsin Azeez: KP
• Dost Mohammad: KP
• Sania Nishtar: KP
• Farzana: KP
• Saifullah Abro: technocrat

The names of other nominees will be announced later, Chaudhry said in his Twitter post.

The Senate elections will held on March 3, according to a notification from the Election Commission of Pakistan. Candidates for the polls are to file their nomination papers with the returning officer between February 12-13.

The Senate polls will take place in a highly charged political climate, with the opposition parties vowing to overthrow the government while the ruling PTI push for electoral reforms that would enable show of hands during the upper house’s ballots.

As many as 52 senators are set to retire — 50 per cent of the 104-member house — on March 11 after completing their six-year tenure. However, this time there will be no polling for the four seats of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) after its merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Therefore, polling will be held to elect 48 senators — 12 each from KP and Balochistan, 11 each from Punjab and Sindh and two from Islamabad. Polling will be held to elect seven members on general seats, two women and two technocrats in the four provinces. Besides this, the election on one minority seat each in KP and Balochistan will also be conducted.

The ruling party is set to become the single largest party in the Senate after the upcoming elections, but it will certainly not be able to gain control of the upper house of the Parliament and will still have to rely on its allies and opposition parties even for carrying out simple legislation.

KARACHI: Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani has appeared before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi investigators in misuse of power and illegal appointments cases.

The NAB team handed over a questionnaire to the Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in connection with the ongoing probe into illegal appointments in Benazir Bhutto Medical College by misusing power.

The investigation is underway against Durrani and others. Durrani had earlier gotten interim bail in the case. A written response will be submitted to the anti-corruption watchdog by Durrani, sources added.
Earlier on Thursday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had extended interim bail of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani in a case related to illegal appointments.

The SHC judge had directed Agha Siraj Durrani to cooperate with the NAB investigators besides ordering the anti-corruption watchdog to submit a progress report till March 30.

On January 25, Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani had approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) for bail before arrest in the alleged illegal appointments case in the Lyari’s university.

KARACHI: The seventh edition of multinational maritime exercise Aman-2021 commenced with an impressive flag hoisting ceremony in Karachi on Friday.

Commander Pakistan Fleet Rear Admiral Naveed Ashraf was the chief guest of the ceremony while guests from seven allied countries also attended the ceremony as guests of honour.

During the main ceremony, flags of all 45 participating countries were hoisted with Pakistan’s flag in the middle and a navy band playing national anthem.

Commander of 25th Destroyer Squadron Commodore Imtiaz Ali read a message of Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Amjad Khan Niazi.

In his message, the naval chief welcomed the participants of the exercise and said participation from so many countries really describes the motto of the exercise which is ‘Together for Peace’.

He said that Pakistan Navy is ever ready to play a positive role for the peace in the region.

The naval chief said Pakistan Navy has taken several initiatives for maritime security and to promote peace in the waters of the region. One such initiative is Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP) to make the waters safe for maritime activities and keep a check on illegal activities, he added.

Admiral Mohammad Amjad Khan Niazi said these exercises are clear message to all the peace loving countries to join hands for peace. He hoped that the camaraderie expressed here will continue in the future.

Addressing the ceremony, chief guest of the ceremony Commander Pakistan Fleet Admiral Naveed Ashraf said that the exercise aims to promote the security and stability in the region and keep the maritime environment safe from threats.

He said the exercise has two phases, a harbour phase and a sea phase while an international level conference is also part of the event to explore the development of blue economy.

ISLAMABAD : A five-member bench has been constituted to hear contempt of court cases against 32 lawyers allegedly involved in attacking and vandalising the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building.

The contempt of court cases against the accused lawyers will be heard by five different benches. The case against Ahsan Majeed and others will be heard by Justice Aamer Farooq, whereas, Justice Fayyaz Ahmad Jindran will hear cases against Kulsoom Rafiq and others.Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani will hear contempt of court notice against Mazhar Jawaid. Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri will hear the case against Khalid Mehmood and Justice Babar Sattar against Raja Amjad and others.

The contempt of court notices had been issued to 32 lawyers accused of attacking and vandalising the building of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on February 8.

Earlier on Monday, the demolition of illegal chambers in district and sessions court in Islamabad had made lawyers furious who later stormed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building and tortured police officials, staff and journalists.

A large number of protesting lawyers outside the building had hurled stones while raising slogans against the district administration and IHC chief justice.

The outrageous crowd had tortured deputy registrar Chaudhry Shafiq after entering into his chamber after breaking the door and after managing to enter into the IHC CJ’s chamber, they pushed the IHC chief justice out of his chamber.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday (today) has begun the process of receiving nomination papers for the upcoming Senate polls, scheduled to be held on March 3.

According to the Senate election schedule issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday, the candidates can submit their nomination papers with the relevant returning officers by tomorrow (Saturday).

The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on Monday and Tuesday next.
The candidates can file appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers on the 17th and 18th of this month. These appeals will be disposed off on February 19 and 20.

The revised list of candidates will be published on the 21st of this month.

The candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on the 22nd of this month, said ECP.

A total of forty-eight senators will be elected this time including twelve each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, eleven each from Punjab and Sindh and two from Islamabad.

PTI board shortlists candidates for Senate elections: sources
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary board to finalised names of candidates for upcoming Senate elections scheduled on March 3.

The parliamentary board of PTI has suggested that Shibli Faraz, Sania Nishtar, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Dr Zarka be awarded Senate tickets.

Name of Federal Minister for Finance Hafeez Sheikh has been shortlisted on technocrat seats, according to sources. The name of PML-Q leader Kamil Ali Agha from coalition parties has also been finalised.

Speaking to PTI’s parliamentary board members, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that PTI will end the tradition of awarding tickets to feudalists and capitalists.