Pakistan Senate vote, the outcome of which is expected to be far from too close to call, concluded in Islamabad amid massive allegations of ‘horse trading.
As many as 131 candidates ran for 48 seats as national and provincial assemblies met to elect new senators to replace the retirees.
According to unofficial results, Pakistan People’s Party has emerged as the majority party in the upper house by securing 27 seats, followed by ruling PML-N’s 26 and MQM’s 8 seats.
Vote for four Senate seats from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was shelved by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the request of FATA Returning Officer (RO) Usman Ali.
A decision to this effect was taken after Members of National Assembly from FATA boycotted the vote to protest the promulgation of a controversial Presidential ordinance last night which allows each of them to cast just one vote as against four.
Before the promulgation of the ordinance, one Fata MNA was entitled to cast four votes in Senate elections. This four-vote privilege was a legacy of former military ruler Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf.
The ECP has also said the polls would be rescheduled only after the final order.
List of newly elected Senators:
Islamabad
Raheela Magsi (PMLN)
Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (PMLN)
Punjab
Raja Zafar-ul-Haq (PMLN)
Professor Sajid Mir (PMLN)
Chaudhry Tanveer Khan (PMLN)
Mushaidullah Khan (PMLN)
Lt. General Abdul Qayum (PMLN)
Pervaiz Rashid (PMLN)
Ghaus Muhammad Khan Niazi (PMLN)
Nehal Hashmi (PMLN)
Saleem Zia (PMLN)
Ayesha Raza Farooq (PMLN)
Najma Hamid (PMLN)
Sindh
Abdul Latif Ansari (PPPP)
Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh (MQM)
Khushbakht Shujaat (MQM)
Barrister Muhammad Ali Khan Saif (MQM)
Nighat Mirza (MQM)
Sassui Palijo (PPPP)
Farooq Naek (PPPP)
Gyan Chand (PPPP)
Rehman Malik (PPPP)
Saleem Mandviwala (PPPP)
Islamuddin Sheikh (PPPP)
Balochistan
Muhammad Usman (PkMAP)
Gul Bushara (PkMAP)
Sardar Azam Khan (PKMAP)
Moulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri (JUI-F)
Mir Naimatullah Zehri (PML-N)
Shahbaz Durrani (PMLN)
Kalsoom Parveen (PMLN)
Hasil Khan Bizenjo (NP)
Mir Kabir (NP)
Dr Ashok Kumar (NP)
Muhammad Yousaf Badini (Independent)
Jahanzeb Jamali Dini (BNPM)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
John Kenneth Williams (PTI)
Samina Abid (PTI)
Sitara Ayaz (ANP)
Muhammad Javed Abbasi (PML-N)
Shibli Faraz (PTI)
Liaquat Khan Tarakai (PTI)
Mohsin Aziz (PTI)
Maulana Attaur Rehman (JUI-F)
Salahuddin Tirmzi (PML-N)
Sirajul Haq (JI)
Khanzada Khan (PPP)
Meanwhile Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has claimed that lawmakers are being bribed (or offered) millions of rupees to sell their votes to a certain party so that it could win majority in the Senate.
Khan, who has a rather overhyped agenda of change, (as usual ) warned that the PTI would dissolve the provincial assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if Senate elections were manipulated in any way.
