ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The polling for Senate Elections 2021 is underway simultaneously at the Parliament House in Islamabad and three provincial assemblies on Wednesday to elect 37 Members of the Upper House.
The voting time will last till 5:00 pm without any break.
The Member of the National Assembly Shafiq Arain was the first person to cast the vote.
Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI casts his vote for #SenateElection2021 pic.twitter.com/O13MaR7hta
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) March 3, 2021
Other prominent figures who have cast their votes so far include Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, the Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, the Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, the Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhary, and the Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda.
In the Federal Capital, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani as the Opposition’s Joint Candidate are vying for the general seat whilst for the women seat, Fauzia Arshad of PTI and Farzana Kausar of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are in the field.
Also Read: PTI, PPP and PML-N Candidates for Senate Elections 2021
Also Read: Senate Elections 2021 to be conducted as per previous practice: ECP
All the 11 Candidates for Senate from Punjab have already been elected unopposed while Candidates from Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federal Capital are being elected today.
In the polling, 2 Senators will be elected from the Federal Capital, 11 from Sindh, and 12 each from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It merits a mention here that 52 Senators in the 104-member Upper House of the Parliament are set to retire on March 11 on completion of their six-year term.
سینیٹ کی 37خالی نشستوں پر آج انتخابات ہورہے ہیں۔#SenateElection2021 pic.twitter.com/mnM41eeOdl
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) March 3, 2021
Meanwhile, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja visited the National Assembly Hall and reviewed the polling process.
Talking to media at the Parliament House in Islamabad, the Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said that leaked video of Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son Ali Raza Gillani has exposed the covert agenda of the opposition that is based on protecting their personal interests at the cost of violating the law and exploiting people.
Murad Saeed said that the incident also shows that they can go to any extent for the accumulation of illegal money and horse-trading.
The minister said that after the video of Ali Raza Gillani, Yousuf Raza Gillani has no moral grounds for contesting the Senate Elections.
The federal minister further said that our leader Prime Minister Imran Khan has always propagated transparency in the system throughout his 22-year long struggle and we are committed to implement his vision. He said that transparency in the system is the only way forward to put the Country on the right track.
