ISLAMABAD – Much-awaited senate elections are set to be held on Saturday (March 3) as 52 senators will be completing their six-year term on March 11.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 12 candidates will be selected from Punjab and Sindh each, 11 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and four senators will be elected on general seats from Fata. Two candidates will be selected from the capital, Islamabad.
The polling for the election will be held in all the four provincial assemblies and National Assembly. Members of all the provincial assemblies will vote for their representatives, while MNAs from Fata will elect the four senators. Two senators from Islamabad will be selected by the National Assembly.
Currently, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is the major party in Senate with 27 seats and its outgoing senator are 18. It has fielded 17 persons for the upcoming elections.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has 26 senators at the time, while its nine members are going to retire. The incumbent ruling party has nominated 21 candidates for the election, aiming to get the majority in the upper house as well.
It is to mention here that the ECP had declared all PML-N candidate independent after the Supreme Court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as president of the party.
The number of outgoing independent senators is five, while 17 have submitted their nominations, most of them from Balochistan.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) currently holds eight seats and it has four outgoing senators, while the party has fielded 14 candidates.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has only one outgoing senator out of seven, while the ECP has accepted nomination papers of 13 PTI candidates.
Three out of five senators from Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (JUI-F) are going to complete their term this year. The party has nominated seven for the upcoming elections.
Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), taking part in the Senate elections for the first time, has nominated four members.
Awami National Party (ANP) currently holds six seats in Senate and it has five outgoing senators, while it has nominated three for the upcoming elections.
No senator of National Party and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) is going to retire this year, while both parties have nominated three and two candidates respectively.
Four senators from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) complete their terms in 2018 while the party has one candidate in the elections.
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) has one outgoing senator and it has fielded one from Sindh.
Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) has two outgoing senators but it is not participating in the elections.
Both Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI-P) have one senator each who are going to retire this year. Both parties have nominated one candidate each in the upcoming Senate elections.
Final List of Sindh
Punjab
KP
Balochistan
Fata
Islamabad
Data courtesy: Election Commission of Pakistan
