ISLAMABAD/LAHORE, Pakistan: A total of 131 Candidates contested for 52 Seats in Senate – the Upper House of the Parliament – for which polling was held on Saturday in the National Assembly and all Provincial Assemblies.
The polling to fill the 52 vacant Seats began at 9:00 am and concluded at 4:00 pm.
In Senate Elections 2018, 20 Candidates contested for 12 Seats in Punjab, 33 Candidates for 12 Seats in Sindh, 23 Candidates for 11 Seats in Baluchistan, 26 Candidates for 11 Seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 Candidates for 2 Seats in Islamabad and 24 Candidates for 4 Seats in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
The Provincial lawmakers elected 7 Senators on general Seats, and 2 each on women and technocrat Seats while an additional non-Muslim Senator was elected from Punjab and Sindh assemblies.
Rangers and Frontier Constabulary personnel had been deployed outside the Parliament House in Islamabad and all provincial assemblies to ensure the peaceful polling.
In the National Assembly, the Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq being the first in the line to cast his vote followed by the Minister for Defense Production Minister Rana Tanveer and the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad.
Talking to media representatives in Islamabad, the Information Minister of State Marriyum Aurangzeb said Nawaz Sharif would win the Senate Elections today and the Opposition would not get any Seat.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said Nawaz Sharif was disqualified upon not taking the salary from his son, adding there was no evidences that Nawaz Sharif was involved in corruption. She said Joint Investigation Team (JIT) failed to produce any evidences against Nawaz Sharif.
Whereas in Punjab Assembly, the Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah casted the first vote for Senate Elections in the assembly.
Talking to media in Lahore, Rana Sanaullah said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had served the nation with honesty, and hoped that PML-N would win all 12 Senate Seats from Punjab.
