ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged as the majority party in Senate elections held on Thursday by winning 18 seats out of total 48.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stood second by bagging eight seats while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) got third position with six seats all from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) won four seats, the National Party and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) won three seats each while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) bagged two seats.
Likewise, the Awami National Party (ANP), the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal), the Qaumi Jamhoori Ittehad (QJI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) won one seat each while an independent candidate also won a Senate seat from Balochistan.
The Election on four Senate seats from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was postponed amidst legal and constitutional complications and new date for election will be announced later.
Polling in National Assembly
The ruling PML-N candidates won both the Senate seats from the federal capital in the polling held at the National Assembly hall in Islamabad on Thursday.
The PML-N’s candidate against general seat Iqbal Zafar Jhagra secured 211 votes while the party’s candidate Raheela Magsi bagged 205 votes to win the seat reserved for women from Islamabad.
The runner up candidate Raja Imran of the PPP got 68 votes for general seat and the PPP’s Nargis Faiz Malik received 71 votes for the seat reserved for women.
Polling in Punjab Assembly
The PML-N won all 11 seats of Senate from Punjab.
The successful candidates against general seats included Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed, Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah, Chaudhry Tanwir, Saleem Zia, Lt. General (retd) Abdul Qayyum, Ghaus Khan Niazi and Nehal Hashmi.
Raja Zafarul Haq and Professor Sajid Mir were elected against seats reserved for technocrats while Najma Hameed and Ayesha Raza against seats reserved for women.
Polling in Sindh Assembly
Five candidates belonging to the PPP including Rehman Malik, Abdul Latif Ansari, Saleem H Mandviwala, Islamuddin Shaikh and Engineer Giyan Chand were declared elected as Senators from Sindh.
The MQM’s Khushbakht Shujaat and Mian Atiq Shaikh were also declared elected as Senators.
Polling in Balochistan Assembly
In Balochistan’s Senate elections, Niamatullah Zehri of the PML-N, Abdul Ghafoor Haidery of the JUI-F, Usman Kakar and Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan of the PkMAP, Hasil Khan Bazejo of the National Party, Dr Jahanzaib Jamaldini of the BNP-Mengal and Yousaf Badeni (independent) were elected.
Mir Kabir Ahmed of the National Party and Engineer Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani of the PML-N were elected as Senators on technocrats while Kalsoom Perveen of the PML-N and Gul Bashra of the PkMAP won the elections on women reserved seats.
The National Party’s Dr Ashok Kumar was elected as Senator on minority seat.
Polling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
The PTI emerged as the largest party in the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by winning six seats. The party’s Mohsin Aziz, Shibili Faraz and Liaqat Khan Tarakai won the elections on general seats, Noman Wazir on technocrat seat, Samina Abid on women reserved seat and John Kainth Williams won on minority seat.
The PML-N’s won two seats. Its candidate Salahuddin Tarmizi was elected on general seat while Muhammad Javed Abbasi on technocrat seat.
The PPP’s Khanzada Khan, the JI’s Sirajul Haq and the JUI-F’s Maulana Attur Rehman were also elected Senators.
The ANP’s Sitara Ayaz was elected on women reserved seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
