PESHAWAR/LAHORE – The voting is underway for Senate seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab while strict security measures are in place amid major political activity in both the provinces.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, polling for 11 vacant Senate seats began at 11am and would continue until 4pm. The Jirga Hall of the KP Assembly was designated as the polling station, with tight security arrangements to ensure a smooth electoral process.
The first vote was cast by JUI-F MPA Adnan Khan as members of the provincial assembly continued to arrive to cast their ballots. To avoid allegations of horse-trading, the government and opposition have reportedly agreed on a seat-sharing formula, allocating six seats to the government and five to the opposition.
Out of five disgruntled PTI candidates, four have withdrawn from the race, leaving Khurram Zeeshan still in the fray on a general seat.
On general seats, the four government-backed and three opposition-backed candidates are in the running. Both sides have also nominated two candidates each for the technocrat and women’s reserved seats.
PTI has fielded Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Afridi and Noorul Haq Qadri for general seats while Rubina Naz and Azam Swati are their nominees for reserved seats. The opposition has nominated Niaz Ahmad (PML-N), Talha Mehmood (PPP) and Atta-ul-Haq (JUI) for general seats while Rubina Khalid (PPP) and Dilawar Khan (JUI) are contesting for reserved categories.
The KP Assembly comprises 145 members, with the government holding the support of 92 MPAs and the opposition backed by 53. For a general seat, 19 votes are needed while 49 votes are required for technocrat and women’s seats. The opposition needs four additional votes to win a third general seat.
In Punjab, the polling is also underway for a by-election on a vacant Senate seat while 103 members cast their votes so far. The polling is taking place at the Punjab Assembly, where the provincial election commissioner is serving as the returning officer.
Out of the 371-member house, 369 members are eligible to vote.
The seat fell vacant following the death of Prof. Sajid Mir, chief of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadees Pakistan. PML-N has nominated Hafiz Abdul Karim for the seat while the opposition has fielded Mehr Abdul Sattar. Independent candidates Khadija Siddiqi and Ejaz Hussain are also in the contest.
The results from both provinces are expected to play a crucial role in shaping the new composition of the upper house of Parliament.
