-
Major political parties have started collecting applications from candidates to finalise the list for the polls
-
Experts believe PML-N will win a lion’s share in the Senate polls followed by PPP
ISLAMABAD: The announcement of Senate election schedule by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has cleared the uncertain political situation in Pakistan. However, experts fear that by holding the Senate elections just before the end of the five-year term of the provincial and National assemblies may lead to rampant horse-trading.
Following the announcement of the schedule for Senate elections, the political parties have geared up preparations for the upcoming elections as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and majority opposition party Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were vying for the top spot, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was lagging far behind and was only focusing on elections in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.
Out of the total 104 Senate slots, elections would be held on March 3 for 52 seats, including 12 each for KP and Punjab Assemblies, and 11 each for Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies. Two seats that were up for grabs belonged to the federal capital and four would be from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Out of the total, each assembly would elect seven general, two technocrats and two women seats. Punjab and KP would also hold an election for one minority seat. The members of the provincial assemblies would elect the new senators while the National Assembly (NA) members would elect two senators from Islamabad. Furthermore, FATA members of the National Assembly (MNAs) would elect four senators for the tribal areas. Per the ECP handout, the polling for Senate elections would be held on March 3, while February 4 is the last date for filing the nomination papers.
FEARS OF RIGGING RIFE AS REBELS MAY PULL SURPRISE FOR PML-N, MQM, OTHERS
In an exclusive talk with Pakistan Today, former ECP secretary Kanwar Mohammad Dilshad said that the political history of Pakistan revealed that holding of Senate polls before the termination of the tenure of assemblies always triggered allegations of horse-trading, a trend which needed to be countered by ECP.
“Holding of Senate election just before the completion of the term of the assemblies may lead to horse trading as most of the members of parliament have no clue whether they would be reelected. So there has been a tendency to mint money by selling votes. Political parties, ECP, and the media need to play their role to counter any such possibility,” he said.
Dilshad said that there was a possibility that rampant horse-trading would occur in the Balochistan Assembly where lawmakers belonging to PML-N, National Party and Pushtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) have already rebelled against the decisions of their respective party leadership earlier this month.
“Moreover, the possibility of buying and selling votes might also come as a surprise for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Sindh Assembly which has changed its name to MQM-Pakistan. In the past, due to the effective control of Altaf Hussain, the MQM lawmakers never deviated from the party policy. This time around, Dr Farooq Sattar may not be able to get the desired results,” he added.
Dilshad further said there were also rumours of a rebel group forming inside PML-N in Punjab Assembly where the ruling party may face an element of surprise. Moreover, he added that horse-trading was also a problem in the Senate elections for FATA.
PML-N MAY WIN A LION’S SHARE IN SENATE POLLS, FOLLOWED BY PPP AND PTI
Going by the strength of the political parties in all provincial assemblies and in NA, the ruling PML-N looks poised to be a major beneficiary of the Senate elections and had a better chance of clinching the top Senate slot.
The ruling party had been making preparations for the elections by asking its candidates to submit applications for Senate polls from January 27 until February 3 at the party’s Islamabad secretariat.
The PPP had also sought applications from party candidates. Reliable sources inside PPP have informed Pakistan Today that the party had decided that none of its retiring senators would be awarded a party ticket for the upcoming polls.
“We have received over 300 applications as the party is finalising the lists for the Senate elections. Each applicant has to submit Rs 50,000 as a fee for the Senate election and the applicants would have to submit the fee along with their application with the party offices,” the source said, while adding that the party chief would give tickets to candidates for the Senate elections after interviewing the applicants.
“The party leadership feels that despite the fact that the party has clear-cut strength in Sindh Assembly, Raza Rabbani may not be given the party ticket for next election. Similarly, Aitzaz Ahsan would also not be able to get the party ticket as the party has only eight seats in Punjab Assembly where a senator would require at least 44.5 votes to win a seat,” the source said.
The source further added that Farhatullah Babar may also not be given party ticket from KP where the party had only six members of provincial assembly (MPA). According to estimates, each party would require at least 11 votes to win a Senate slot.
PTI, however, still does not seem serious about the Senate polls as its leadership remained ignorant about the polls. Talking to Pakistan Today, PTI secretary information Shafqat Mahmood said that the party was engaged in strategising for the polls. When asked as to how many applications had been received for the polls, Shafqat said he was unaware of the actual number. The PTI leader could also not say for certain as to how many seats his party was eyeing in the Senate polls.
Currently, the ruling PML-N is the single largest party in the Senate with 27 lawmakers, closely followed by the PPP which had 26 lawmakers. However, out of the total 26 members of PPP, 18 would be retiring this March, thus reducing the party’s strength to eight members.
Out of the 27 PML-N members, nine would be retiring this March. This would leave the ruling party with 18 lawmakers – still making it the largest party in the House. Moreover, the PTI had seven members, out of which one senator would be retiring, thus reducing the party strength to six members. Meanwhile, out of eight MQM senators, four would be retiring and would leave the party’s tally to four. The PML-Q would be the major loser as all four of its senators would be retiring in March.
