The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), on Friday, has written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to express reservations over a tight schedule issued for the Senate elections, reported Business Recorder on Saturday.

As per the details, the letter was written by PPP's Secretary-General Nayyar Bukhari to the election authority on the recommendations of the party leadership. The letter stated that the two days time period given by the ECP is not enough to finalize party candidates, complete formalities, and file the nomination papers.

Nayyar Bukhari, in his letter, added that nominating a candidate is a long process that includes candidates' interviews, scrutiny, and other matters. Therefore, for which the party's parliamentary board needs time.

Follow Author "It involves inviting applications, scrutiny, setting up of parliamentary boards, interviewing candidates before finally awarding them tickets. As the candidates run into hundreds the exercise takes considerable time," he wrote.

The letter also stated that the candidates require to open a special bank account and due to global anti-money laundering laws in the country, it is not possible to open bank accounts in a day or two.

According to the letter, the ECP announced the schedule for elections on February 12. Which gave political parties only two days - February 12 and 13 - to submit the nomination papers.

"I, therefore, urge the Honourable Chief Election Commissioner to kindly look into and take appropriate steps to redress the situation," Bukhari said.

PPP finalizes candidates for Senate polls:

PPP, on Friday, issued the list of finalized candidates for Senate polls. From Islamabad, PPP's Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani will represent PPP. Frhatullah Babar from Kyber Pakhtunkhawa and Azeem ul Haq Minhas will appear as general candidates. Jam Mehtab Dehar, Taj Haider, Saleem Mandviwala, Sherry Rehman, and Shahadat Awan will represent PPP from Sindh. While three women candidates including Palwashah Khan, Khairul-Nisa Mughal, and Rukhsana Shah have also been given party tickets for the elections.

It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an anti-government opposition alliance including PPP, PMI-N, and 9 other parties, has decided to jointly contest the Senate polls.