Part of the voting operations in the general elections held last February (Reuters)
The ruling coalition in Pakistan strengthened its control over the country's legislative bodies after winning the majority of the contested seats in the Pakistani Senate elections on Tuesday.
Senate elections were held yesterday in the National Assembly and in Sindh province for general and special seats, and in the Punjab province and the city of Islamabad for special seats.
The parties competed for 19 vacant seats in the Pakistani Senate, with the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif’s wing) each winning 6 seats, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party winning 11 seats, while the United Qaumi Movement won one seat, and an independent candidate also won one seat. .
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar won the technocrat seat for the capital, Islamabad, by obtaining 222 votes, while Rana Mahmood Hassan of the Pakistan People's Party won the general seat for Islamabad after obtaining 224 votes.
In the Punjab province, special seats for women and technocrats were competed for, with two seats for each and one seat for minorities, while the seven general seats were elected last March by acclamation.
In the seats reserved for technocrats in the Punjab province, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb (independent) and Petroleum Minister Musaddiq Malik from the Muslim League Party (Nawaz Sharif’s wing) won.
Anusha Rehman and Bushra Anjum of the Muslim League (Nawaz Wing) won two seats reserved for women, while Khalil Tahir Sindhu of the Muslim League also bagged the minority seat.
Volunteers from Pakistan Insaf Party supporters follow the voting results in the general elections (Reuters)
In Sindh province, the ruling Pakistan People's Party in the region won 10 seats out of 12 contested seats in Sindh province, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement won one seat and another seat for an independent candidate, while the Pakistan Insaf Party boycotted the Senate elections in Sindh.
Elections for 11 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were postponed by the Election Commission due to the “refusal” to administer oath to legislators elected on reserved seats. Elections were not held in Balochistan province, where legislators were elected unopposed on 11 vacant seats last month.
The Pakistani Shura Council consists of three elements: the presidency. Asif Ali Zardari from the Pakistan People’s Party was elected last month as president of the country, in addition to the National Assembly (House of Representatives), or what is known as the “lower chamber,” in which the ruling coalition forms a majority that enabled it to form the government. And the Senate, or what is known as the “Upper Chamber,” where the ruling coalition strengthened its control in the Senate elections held yesterday, Tuesday.
Now, the number of members of the League (Nawaz Sharif's wing) in the Senate, which consists of 96 members, has increased to 19, while the number of members of the Pakistan People's Party has increased to 24 members, and the Pakistan Insaf Party - which was founded by former Prime Minister Imran Khan - has 20 members. Member of the Council.
Senate elections are held in Pakistan every 3 years, and each member of Parliament spends 6 years. Not all senators are elected at the same time, but half of them are elected at one time and the other half after 3 years.
Elections for the Senate seats allocated to each province in Pakistan are conducted using the single transferable vote pattern under the proportional representation system.
Source: Al Jazeera