Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday emerged as the largest party in the Upper House of parliament as 15 of its nominees, who contested as independent candidates in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling in the Elections Act, 2017, case, stood victorious, raising the total party strength in Senate to 33.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was the runner-up as it clinched 12 seats and raised its overall strength in the Upper House to 20 members.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) secured a total of six seats on Saturday, raising its total strength to 12 in Senate.

PML-N (15 new+18 old=total 33 seats): Independent candidates backed by the PML-N won 11 out of 12 Senate seats in Punjab Assembly. Seven candidates contested for the general seats, one for minority, two for technocrat and two for women seats.

Out of seven general seats in Punjab, independent candidates backed by PML-N won six general seats, whereas one seat went to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

According to results, Dr Asif Kirmani secured 42 votes, Dr Musadik Malik 42 votes, Rana Maqbool 43 votes, Zubair Gul 38 votes, Haroon Akhtar 42 votes and Shaheen Khalid Butt 41 votes.

Kamran Michael, an independent candidate backed by the PML-N, was elected on the minority seat by securing 321 votes.

Former finance minister Ishaq Dar and Hafiz Abdul Karim were elected on technocrat seats by securing 155 votes and 160 votes respectively.

Saadia Abbasi and Nuzhat Sadiq were elected on two women seats by securing 160 votes and 152 votes respectively.

PML-N-backed independent candidates grabbed two seats from Islamabad.

Mushahid Hussain Syed and Asad Ali Khan Junejo won the election on one technocrat and one general seat.

The results are in
Punjab: PML-N: 11 seats; PTI: 1 seat
Sindh: PPP: 10 seats; MQM: 1 seat; PML-F: 1 seat
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: PTI: 5 seats; PML-N: 2 seats; PPP: 2 seats; JUI-F: 1 seat; JI: 1 seat
Islamabad: PML-N: 2 seats
Fata: Independents: 4 seats
Balochistan: Independents: 6 seats; NP: 2 seats; PkMAP: 2 seats; JUI-F: 1 seat

Mushahid secured 223 votes on technocrat seat and Junejo succeeded on the general seat by securing 214 votes.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), PML-N-backed Sabir Shah won a general seat while Dilawar Khan was elected on a technocrat seat.

In Balochistan, the PML-N suffered a huge blow and could not bag even a single seat despite 21 out of 65 members belonging to the party.

PPP (12+8=20): The Pakistan People’s Party was the runner-up in the Senate election. The party was the biggest loser in the Senate with only eight lawmakers left after the retirement of 18 of its 26 senators. Though in the Saturday’s election, the party succeeded in clinching 12 seats but its overall strength got reduced from previous 26 to 20 members, costing it the majority in the Upper House.

Outgoing Senate chairman Raza Rabbani, Maula Bakhsh Chandio, Mohammad Ali Jamot, Imamuddin Shauqeen and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar were elected on the general seats. Sikandar Mendhro and Rukhsana Zuberi were elected on the technocrat seats while Krishna Kohli – the first Dalit woman to sit in the Upper House – and Quratulain Marri on women seats. Anwar Laal Deen was elected on the minorities seat.

The party won two seats from KP, with Bahramand Tangi elected on a general seat and Rubina Khalid on the women seat.

PTI (6+6=12): As per expectations, the PTI secured a total of six seats in the Senate elections on Saturday, raising its total strength to 12 in the Upper House.

The party managed to bag five seats on its home turf, with Ayub Afridi, Faisal Javed and Fida Muhammad winning on general seats. Mehar Taj Roghani was elected to one of the women seats and Azam Swati was elected to the technocrat seat.

PTI’s Chaudhry Sarwar won on a general seat in Punjab Assembly.

MQM-P (1+4=5): The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagged only one seat from Sindh assembly, raising its total members in the Upper House to five.

Barrister Farogh Naseem of the MQM-P was elected on a general seat in Sindh Assembly.

JUI-F (2+2=4): The Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) clinched two seats in the Saturday’s contest – one in KP and other in Balochistan – raising its total number to four in the Upper House.

JUI-F’s Talha Mahmood won a general seat in KP assembly while Maulana Faiz Muhammad was elected on a general seat from Balochistan.

PML-F (1+1=2): The Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) secured one seat in the election, raising it total strength in Senate to two.

PML-F’s Muzaffar Hussain Shah was elected on a general seat in Sindh Assembly.

NP (2): The National Party (NP) managed to get two of its candidates elected to the Upper House. Tahir Bizenjo and Akram Dashti of NP were elected to Senate in the election from Balochistan Assembly.

PkMAP (2+3=5): The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) bagged two seats in the Saturday’s election, raising its total strength to five in the Upper House.

Sardar Shafiq Tareen and Abida Omar of the PkMAP were elected from the Balochistan Assembly.

JI (1+1=2): The Jamat-i-Islami secured one seat in the contest from KP, raising its total strength in the Upper House to two. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of the JI was elected on a general seat.

Independent (10+5=15): The independent candidates won 10 seats, with four from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and six from Balochsitan Assembly.

Shammim Afridi, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Hidayat Ullah and Hillal ur Rehman secured their seats from FATA as independent candidates.

An alliance from the incumbent government comprising dissidents from the PML-N and PML-Q managed to get six senators elected from Balochistan as independent candidates. These are: Anwarul Haq Kakar, Ahmed Khan, Kuhda Babar and Sadiq Sanjrani on general seats; Sana Jamali on the women seat and Naseebullah Bazai on the technocrat seats.

BNP-A (2):

The Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) didn’t file any candidate for the Senate election. Its strength in the Upper House currently stands at two.

A total of 133 candidates had been in run for 52 Senate seats. The polling started at 9 am and continued smoothly till the closing time. The polling was held at the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies.

The Upper House of parliament comprises 104 lawmakers and each of them serves a term of six years, barring resignation or disqualification. All the members are not elected at the same time: half of them at one time and the other half three years later.

Some 52 senators who were elected in 2012 have retired now. The other 52 who were elected in 2015 will retire in 2021.

Of the 52 vacant seats, 46 were filled by the four provincial assemblies, two by the National Assembly and four by lawmakers representing FATA.

Each provincial assembly elected 11 senators: seven on general seats, two on technocrat seats and two on women seats. Sindh and Punjab provinces additionally chose a minority member each.

Published in Daily Times, March 4^th 2018.