ISLAMABAD: 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 are going to retire now. The other 52 who were elected in 2015 will retire in 2021.
Of the 52 seats being vacated for election on March 3 (today), 46 will be filled by the four provincial assemblies, two by the National Assembly and four by lawmakers representing FATA.
Each provincial assembly will elect 11 senators: seven on general seats, two on technocrat seats and two on women seats. Sindh and Punjab provinces will additionally also choose a minority member each.
FATA MNAs will elect four senators, all on general seats
The National Assembly will elect two members from Islamabad: one on general seat and one either woman or technocrat/ulema seat.
Candidates: There are a total of 135 candidates contesting the Senate elections from across country. Among them, 20 are from PPP, 14 from MQM, 13 from PTI and four from Pak Sarzameen Party. A total of 65 candidates will be contesting as ‘independents’, which includes 23 candidates nominated by PML-N who cannot contest polls on their party ticket anymore.
Punjab: Some 20 candidates are contesting the polls from Punjab. Of these, 10 will contest for general seats; three for women seats, five for technocrat seats, and two for a seat reserved for minorities.
Sindh: A total of 33 candidates will contest from Sindh, of which 18 will contest for general seats, six each for seats reserved for technocrats and women, and three for a seat reserved for minorities.
KP: From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 27 candidates will contest the polls, of which 14 will contest for general seats, while five and eight candidates will contest the seats reserved for technocrats and women respectively. The KP seat for minorities is currently filled.
Balochistan: Some 25 candidates are contesting the polls from Balochistan, of which 15 will contest for general seats, six for women seats and four will contest for seats reserved for technocrats. The Balochistan seat for minorities is currently filled.
Party Position
Punjab Assembly: In total, there are 371 seats in Punjab Assembly, however only 367 are currently occupied. Of these, 309 are occupied by members of the PML-N, 30 by PTI, eight each by PPP and PML-Q, five by independent lawmakers, three by members of PML-Z, and one each by a member of Pakistan National Muslim League, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and the Bahawalpur National Party.
Sindh Assembly: The total seats in Sindh assembly are 168, but currently 167 are occupied. At present, 95 of them are members of the PPP, 50 of MQM, nine each of PML-F and PML-N, four of PTI, one of National Peoples Party and one is an independent lawmaker.
KP Assembly: The total seats in the KP Assembly are 124, but there are 123 lawmakers currently in office. Sixty one are members of PTI, 16 each are of PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, 10 of Qaumi Watan Party, seven of Jamaat-i-Islami, six of PPP, five of Awami National Party and two are independent members.
Balochistan Assembly: The total number of seats in Balochistan Assembly is 65. Of these, 21 are members of PML-N, 14 of PkMAP, five of PML-Q, eight of JUI-F, 11 of National Party, two of the BNP, a lawmaker each from MWM, ANP and the BNP-A, and one independent lawmaker.
National Assembly: At present, the National Assembly has 342 seats for lawmakers from across the country, of which 340 are occupied.
The treasury benches have 221 members: PML-N enjoys a majority with 187 members, JUI-F has 14, PML-F five, PkMAP three, National People’s Party two and PML-Z and the National Party have one lawmaker each on the benches.
There are 119 lawmakers on the opposition benches, of which 47 belong to the PPP, 33 to PTI, 24 to MQM, four each to Jamaat-i-Islami and PML-Q, two to ANP and one each to APML and QWP. Three independent lawmakers are also part of the opposition.
Published in Daily Times, March 3rd 2018.