Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
The Pakistan People’s Party bagged four Senate seats, the Pakistan Muslim League-N and JUI-F succeeded to win one seat each in the by-elections Thursday, according to the initial results.
In the National Assembly, PPP’s Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani retained the seat he vacated after securing a majority. Out of the 301 votes cast, Gilani, a joint candidate of the ruling coalition of six parties, secured 204 votes compared to his rival Sunni Ittehad Council’s Ilyas Mehrban, who obtained only 88 votes. Nine votes were rejected during the count.
Gilani has been speculated for the Senate chairman’s slot.
The seat on which the elections were held had fallen vacant after Gillani was elected as MNA in the Feb 8 elections. The PPP leader has been tipped for the Senate chairman’s slot.
These six seats had fallen vacant under Article 223 of the Constitution which prohibits lawmakers from holding dual membership.
The sub-section 4 of the article states: “Subject to clause (2) if a member of either House or of a Provincial Assembly becomes a candidate for a second sear which, in accordance with clause (1), he may not hold concurrently with his first seat, then his first seat shall become vacant as soon as he is elected to the second seat.”
In Sindh, 124 votes were cast during the polling held to fill the two vacant general seats of the upper house. After the count, PPP’s Jam Saifullah Khan Dharejo and Muhammad Aslam Abro managed to get elected to the Senate by obtaining 58 and 57 votes respectively.
While Nazeerullah and Shazia Sohail of the Sunni Ittehad Council were only able to get 4 votes each. During the count, one vote was rejected. The seats had fallen vacant as PPP senators Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Jam Mehtab Dahar were elected to the Sindh Assembly in the February 8 general elections. Provincial Election Commissioner, Sindh, Sharifullah, acted as the returning officer in the SIndh Assembly.
The Muttahid Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Jamat-e-Islami, two opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly, boycotted the polling.
