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‘Will win 2018 elections,’ claim both parties
LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday evening burst firecrackers to celebrate the victory of the party-backed candidates for top slots of Senate.
Soon after the results of the elections for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman were announced, a large number of PPP workers, holding party banners and pictures of former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, gathered outside the Lahore Press Club and burst crackers to celebrate the victory.
The PPP Youth President Zohaib Butt-led rally chanted slogans in favour of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other slogans including “aik Zardari sab pay bhaari” and “Jiye Bhutto, Jiye Benazir“.
Addressing the rally, Zohaib congratulated the newly-elected Senate chairman and deputy chairman and said the victory of PPP’s candidates showed the party was still popular in the country and it “was a slap on the face of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)”.
“This victory will pave way for PPP’s victory in the 2018 general elections, and the Sharif brothers should know that their politics of revenge will finally end after the elections,” he added.
The PPP also held a ceremony at the residence of PPP Vice President Aslam Gull, which was attended by a large number of PPP workers and leaders.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also celebrated the victory of the PTI-backed Senate chairman and party leaders distributed sweets among the workers. A celebration ceremony was also held at the PTI chairman secretariat in Garden Town.
PTI central leaders including Shoaib Siddiqui, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Jasim Sharif, Mansha Sindhu and Jamshed Butt congratulated each other on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, PTI central Punjab President Aleem Khan felicitated Senator Sadiq Sanjrani over his victory in the Senate chairman polls.
He lauded PTI Chairman Imran Khan for supporting Sanjrani in the polls and said the PTI chief made the right decision as Sanjrani’s win would help lessen the grievances of the “deprived province of Balochistan”.
“It will bring Baloch separatists to the national mainstream,” he said and added that the next prime minister and president of the country would be from the PTI as the party would win the elections with a huge margin.
It is pertinent to mention that the PPP and PTI backed independent candidate Sadiq Sanjrani was sworn in as the Senate chairman on Monday after defeating PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and independent candidates from Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) also voted for Sanjrani in the polls.
Sanjrani secured 57 votes out of 103 while Raja Zafarul Haq received 46.
PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla was elected as the deputy chairman with 54 votes against the PML-N-backed Usman Khan Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.