PM summons PTI parliamentary board's session ahead of Senate elections

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary board ahead of Senate elections on March 3, ARY News reported on Thursday.

PM Imran Khan will chair the session of PTI parliamentary board in the evening today which will also be attended by the chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), sources told ARY News.

The participants of the session will hold consultations regarding the names of candidates and the strategy for the upcoming Senate elections.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the schedule for the Senate elections in the four provinces.

According to the top electoral body, the polling to elect legislators for the upper house of the parliament will be held on March 3. 48 lawmakers of the Senate will retire on March 3.

Read: ECP to scrutinize credentials of Senate candidates via online process

As many as 52 senators are set to retire — 50 per cent of the 104-member house — on March 11 after completing their six-year tenure. However, this time there will be no polling for the four seats of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) after its merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

As per schedule released by the ECP, public notice inviting nomination papers will be issued by the Returning Officers on February 11. The ECP will accept submission of the nomination papers on February 12 and 13.

Meanwhile, the scrutiny process for the nominations is to be completed on February 15 and 16, and the final list of the contestant will be issued later on Feb 21, while the candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on February 22.