Shaukat Tarin, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Revenue, filed his nomination papers for a Senate seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
PTI’s Muhammad Ayub Afridi resigned as a member of the upper chamber last month and abandoned his seat, according to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. According to media sources, the administration wanted Tarin elected to the Senate to fill the seat vacated by Afridi so that he could reclaim his position as finance minister.
The nomination papers were filed by Tarin’s lawyer at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Peshawar Office. Tarin was proposed by Taimur Saleem Jhagra and seconded by Kamran Khan Bangash, both provincial ministers.
Bangash told the media that the province was home to a diverse population and that Tarin’s “roots” were in KP. “KP has also given Senate seats to people from other political parties,” he remarked.
Tarin’s vote was registered in Mardan, and his wife was also a resident of the province, he said.
On December 20, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will hold elections for the vacant Senate seat. Candidates will file their nomination papers with the returning officer from November 30 to December 2, according to the schedule, and the names of the nominated candidates will be published on December 3.
The deadline for scrutinizing nomination documents is December 6, and appeals against either acceptance or rejection must be filed by December 8. The tribunal’s deadline for hearing appeals has been set for December 10, and the returning officer will release the updated list of applicants on December 11. Candidates have until December 13 to withdraw their candidacy.
On April 17, Tarin was named finance minister, and his constitutional term ended on October 16, following which he was appointed as the PM’s finance adviser. Tarin was required to be elected to parliament to serve as finance minister for more than six months, according to the Constitution.
