ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce the schedule for the forthcoming Senate elections on February 11 as it started issuing nomination papers for the candidates on Thursday.
According to a press statement issued by the ECP, nomination papers for the two Senate seats of Islamabad can be obtained from Election Commission’s Secretariat in the capital.
For provincial seats, the papers can be received from the offices of the respective provincial election commissions.
The candidates have been asked to attach party tickets while submitting the nomination papers. Independent candidates do not need to do so.
In addition, candidates were reminded to set up a special account for this purpose at any branch of any scheduled bank for their election expenses as their account number should be mentioned in the nomination papers.
The ECP further added it is important to prepare in advance. According to the rules, a candidate is not allowed to make his election expenses from any bank account other than this particular bank account.
The candidates were also directed to open an account in their name with cash not exceeding the fixed amount of Rs1.5 million.
The move comes a day after the government introduced the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the National Assembly (NA) seeking an open Senate vote and giving the right to dual nationals to contest the general elections for a discussion and vote amid ruckus by the opposition parties.
Last month, the government had moved the Supreme Court (SC) seeking its opinion about the mechanism of voting for the elections of the upper house of the parliament.
