The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has unveiled the timetable for the forthcoming elections on forty-eight vacant seats of the Senate, as per a report by ARY News.
According to the announced schedule, polling is slated to take place on the second of next month, with voting to be conducted from 9 am to 4 pm. Candidates seeking election can submit their nomination papers to the returning officers starting from tomorrow until Saturday.
Scrutiny of nomination papers is scheduled for the 19th of this month, followed by the issuance of a revised list of candidates on the 26th of March. Candidates will have until the 27th of March to withdraw their nomination papers.
In the federal capital, members of the National Assembly will cast their votes to elect Senators for one general seat and one seat for technocrats, including Ulema.
Across the four provincial assemblies, Senators will be elected for seven general seats, two women seats, and two seats for technocrats, including Ulema, from each province. Additionally, one seat for non-Muslims will be filled from both Punjab and Sindh provinces.
These vacancies arose following the expiration of the term of the incumbent members on the 11th of March.
The ECP clarified that polling will not be conducted on four seats reserved for the erstwhile tribal areas, as these seats have been abolished following the merger of tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.
As per the ECP’s statement, Senate elections will encompass seven general seats, two women seats, two technocrat seats, and one minority seat in Punjab. Similarly, in Sindh, the elections will be contested on twelve seats, while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the polls will be conducted on eleven seats each.
