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.
