ISLAMABAD: Polling is underway for the Senate elections for 37 seats of the three provinces besides Punjab and the federal government which will continue till 5 pm without any break. Strict security arrangements were made outside the National and Provincial Assemblies.
Prime Minister Imran Khan cast his vote. Speaker Asad Qaiser, Sheikh Rashid, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Faisal Wawda, Fawad Chaudhry, Ejaz Shah and Murad Saeed, Qasim Soori, Amir Dogar, Ali Nawaz Awan, Farrukh Habib, Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Zain Qureshi, Malaika Bukhari, Sami Mohi-ud-Din Jamali have also cast their vote. Ehsanullah Reiki of Balochistan Awami Party also cast his vote.
Candidates for 11 seats in Punjab have been elected unopposed. Polling is underway for 2 seats in Islamabad, 11 in Sindh, 12 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 12 in Balochistan. Members of the Provincial Assembly are voting for the provincial seats while members of the National Assembly are voting for the 2 seats in Islamabad.
698 voters will practice their right to vote for the Senate elections. 341 voters are going to vote for 2 seats in Islamabad. 168 members will vote in Sindh, 124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 65 in Balochistan. For the federal and provincial seats, 39 candidates are competing for general seats, 18 for women, 13 for technocrats and 8 for minorities.
According to the Election Commission, 4 polling booths have been set up at different stations in Islamabad. Voters must bring their Assembly Cards. Voting without Assembly Cards will not be allowed. Voters will be given 2 ballot papers for two seats in Islamabad.
Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of PTI and Yousuf Raza Gillani of the Pakistan Democratic Movement are expected to face off in the general seat of Islamabad. Farzana Kausar of PML-N and Fauzia Arshad of PTI are competing with each other on the Islamabad women’s seat.
The PTI has 157 seats in the National Assembly. Among the allies are MQM’s 7, PML-Q’s and BAP’s 5, GDA’s 5, Sheikh Rashid’s All Pakistan Muslim League and Jamhoori Watan Party’s 1 seat while 1 independent candidate Aslam Bhootani is standing with the government. Thus, the PTI has the support of 180 members in the National Assembly.
