KARACHI, Feb 10: The process of filing of nomination papers to contest the upcoming Senate election on 11 vacant seats from Sindh will begin today (Wednesday).

Eighteen nomination forms for contesting the upcoming Senate election from Sindh have been collected by candidates till Tuesday from the office of the provincial election commission.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik, Provincial Chief of Awami National Party Shahi Syed, Dr Khattumal, Mirza Ishtiaq Baig, Arif Ali Shah Bokhari, Surrayya Jatoi, Jamila Ghaffar Qureshi and Qazi Asad Abid are among those for whom the forms have been obtained.

However, none of the 18 candidates received the nomination forms on behalf of their respective parties.

The cost of a form is Rs25 but at the time of the submission of the form, a candidate will have to deposit a pay order of Rs2,000 as a security deposit. The amount is refundable provided the candidate withdraws his/her form by the last date of withdrawal.

The nomination papers could be submitted before Provincial Election Commissioner Chaudhry Qamar-uz-Zaman, who is the Returning Officer for the election, from Wednesday till Feb 13.

A candidate has to submit his nomination paper in person as according to the rules it is mandatory. Aspirants filing candidature on behalf of any party would have to attach their party ticket with the nomination form.

According to the schedule, scrutiny of the nomination forms would be held on Feb 14 and 15 during office hours and appeals against acceptance or rejection of any nomination papers could be filed by Feb 17 which would be decided by Feb 19. The nomination papers could be withdrawn by Feb 21 and the final list of candidates would be announced on Feb 22. Polling will be held on March 4.

In Sindh, the election will be held on eleven seats of the Upper House – seven general seats and two seats each for women and technocrats – as 11 senators from the province are going to retire on March 11 after completing their term. Out of 11 retiring senators, three each belong to the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement while one is independent and the other belongs to the National Alliance.

The Sindh Assembly comprising 168 members is the electoral college for the election of 11 Senate seats. The proposer and seconder of any aspirant ought to be a sitting member of the Sindh Assembly.

At least 24 votes are required to win a senate general seat while the support of 84 MPAs is required for securing a reserved seat.

In the 168-member House, the PPP has 93 MPAs, the MQM has 51, the PML-Q has 11 MPAs, the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) enjoys support of eight MPAs, the National People’s Party had three 3 and the ANP had two members.

In view of the party-wise positions in the Sindh Assembly, there is no room for any independent candidate to contest election.

Analysts are of the opinion that the MQM would be able to regain three seats in the coming election while the PPP would manage to secure seven seats with the support of smaller parliamentary groups in the assembly as if they all join hands they could not get a seat.

They say that both PPP and the MQM have finalised the lists of their candidates and would submit their nomination papers on the last day i.e. Feb 13.

The analysts say that the PPP would field eight candidates while the MQM would contest election on two general and one woman seats.