ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) Parliamentary Board on Wednesday initiated interviews of the aspirants of party ticket for Senate elections from Punjab and some 85 candidates from the province appeared before the board to present their case.
“Around 10 candidates could not appear today and they will be given chance to appear before the board on Thursday,” a source in the party informed The Nation, adding they would be entertained besides interviewing the candidates from other provinces.
Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif especially attended the board meeting and himself asked questions to candidates desiring to have party ticket for Senate elections form the province.
The party would surely be securing all the 11 seats from the province so that is the reason over 90 applications came from the province with a number of party stalwarts and heavyweights in the queue to secure the party ticket making it difficult for the board to take decision.
Interestingly the chairman of the board Raja Zafarul Haq was also among the applicants for the party ticket from the province while three to four retiring party senators from the province would also likely to secure the party ticket for their re-elections to the Upper House of the Senate including Pervaiz Rashid and Mushahid Ullah Khan.
The 14-member board is scheduled to interview the party candidates from Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federal Capital and FATA today (Thursday) and of course would also interview the candidates would could not appear before the board from Punjab.
The board would short-list the candidates and present the same with its recommendations to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for final approval, a source in the party said, adding that the recommendations of the board would not be binding in nature and Premier Sharif could take decision in favour of any candidate setting aside the recommendations of the board.
In all some 170 applications were received with maximum applicants 95 from Punjab against 11 seats to be vacated from the province, including seven general and two each reserved for women, and technocrats and Ulema.
Interestingly, almost half the members of the Parliamentary Board scrutinising the particulars of the applicants are among the aspirants for the party ticket for the upcoming Senate elections.
The 14-member board under the head of Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif comprised Raja Zafar ul Haq, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Pervaiz Rashid, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Shehbaz Sharif, Pir Sabir Shah, Ismail Rahu, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Yakoob Khan Nasir, Dr Asif Kirmani and Nuzhat Sadiq. Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar is the convener of the board.
Prominent among those who have applied for the Senate elections from Punjab included Raja Zafarul Haq, Pervaiz Rasheed, Ch. Jaffar Iqbal, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Ch. Jaffar Iqbal, Ghulam Dastagir Khan, Syed Mohammad Medhi, Lt. Gen.(Retd) Abdul Qayyum, Asif Ali Malik, Saoud Majid, Tabish Alvi, Tariq Fatimi, Farzana Malik, Ms Najma Hameed and a number of other noted party leaders.
From Sindh only Syed Zafar Ali Shah a veteran party leader and Parliamentarian has applied for party ticket because the party stand little chance to bag any seat from the province. However, the party have six MPAs and they could help win other parties in opposition to have an additional seat.
From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the party received some 10 applications with some heavyweights like party’s Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Pir Sabir Shah, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Sallahuddin Tirmizi and Ahmadul Islam among the aspirants for the party ticket.
Keeping in view the strength of the party in the KP Assembly, the party has one sure-fire seat while it could bag another in case of alliance with other parties in opposition, including JUI-F, QWP, PPP and ANP.
Similarly from Balochistan the party received around 33 applications. Prominent among those who have applied from the province included Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir, Khuda-i-Noor Naseeb Ullah and Namatullah Zehri.
Against the two seats to be vacated from Federal Capital party received about a dozen applications with Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Irfan Siddiqui, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Malik Shujah and Ashraf Gujjar are prominent.
Against the four slots to be vacated from FATA region the party has received five applications.