Senate elections: 14 PML-N backed candidates win seats from Punjab

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APP86-13 ISLAMABAD: June 13 – Advisor to Prime Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar presenting the national budget 2009-10 during National Assembly session at Parliament House. APP photo by Afzaal Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: As polling for Senate elections ended, results have started pouring in for the 52 Upper House seats on Saturday,

According to unofficial and unverified results, 14 candidates backed by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have been elected on seats from Punjab whereas Chaudhry Sarwar of PTI has won in the general category from Punjab.

The candidates backed by PML-N have won six general seats from Punjab Assembly, while votes for the seventh seat are being counted. The party’s candidates have also won all the technocrat, women and minorities seats from the province as well.

Meanwhile, four independent candidates have been elected to the Senate from Fata after bagging seven votes each.

From FATA, independent candidates Hidayatullah, Hilalur Rehman, Shamim Afridi and Mirza Afridi have been elected as senators, according to unofficial results.

Moreover, as per unverified reports, PML-N’s Mushahid Hussain Sayed bagged Islamabad’s technocrat seat.

Senate election polling began at 9 am on Saturday and concluded at 4 pm.

In the National Assembly, the federal defence production minister was the first in line to cast the vote for the senators from Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shafqat Mehmood has confirmed that his party’s chairperson Imran Khan will not cast vote in the Senate elections.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), four senators will be elected on general seats from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); eleven new members of Senate would be elected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan each; and twelve each from Sindh and Punjab. Sindh and Punjab have additional slot of minority member, which is filled in KP and Balochistan.

Additionally, two senators will be elected from the federal capital as well—one to a General seat and one to either a Woman or Technocrat/Ulema seat.

A total of 20 candidates are contesting 12 seats from Punjab, 33 on 12 seats from Sindh, 26 on 11 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25 on 11 seats from Balochistan, 24 on four seats from FATA and five on two seats from Islamabad.

While the total term for a senator is six years, half of the Senate retires after every three years. 52 senators who were elected in 2012 are slated to retire in March’s second week this year, while the ones elected in 2015 will retire in 2021.

These polls depend on the party positions in the provincial assemblies as well as the NA. Four provincial assemblies vote for their representatives, whereas the FATA senators are elected by the MNAs from the tribal areas, while the Islamabad senators are chosen by the members of the National Assembly.

Extensive security arrangements have been made in the federal capital for Senate polls in Islamabad, with Rangers and Frontier Corps personnel deployed in the premises of the Parliament House. All voters are required to reach the polling stations through a given passage. It may be mentioned here that media personnel have reportedly been banned from entering parliament for security reasons.

ECP’S CODE OF CONDUCT:

Per the ECP’s code of conduct, no one would be allowed exclusive entry into the polling station and the use of mobile phone is also prohibited. According to a circular issued by the ECP, confidentiality of the ballot paper and vote must be ensured. It also strictly prohibits taking any election information out of the station.

Those not abiding by the code of conduct may face up to two years of imprisonment and a fine up to Rs100,000, said the ECP as it warned against the manipulation of ballot papers.

The election watchdog further said that it may use its discretion to impose any or all penalties to those breaking the rules.

Moreover, the ECP authorised the returning officers (RO) to work as magistrates during the time of polling, adding that they have the right to call off the voting or render it void if they come across any attempts to disrupt order or compromise the electoral process.

The ROs can instantly hold trials and announce penalties for any person involved in forgery or manipulation of ballot papers. The RO may also use their discretion to cancel any ballot papers if they believe them to be manipulated.

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