KARACHI/ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to seek a vote of confidence from the parliament, after the ruling party lost a coveted Senate seat to the opposition’s joint candidate in Wednesday’s elections.
Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) joint candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh by a small margin.
Addressing a press conference alongside senior party leaders, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that those standing with Prime Minister Imran will be seen on one side and those who prefer the ideology of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have every right to join their ranks.
He urged the party workers to hold on to their belief that the party would compete with the opposition alliance, adding that it should be made clear who stood where after Wednesday’s vote.
The foreign minister said that while the opposition may have joined hands, they had no basis for their union, and would be buried soon by their politics of self-interest.
“We informed the ECP that it is your constitutional duty to ensure free and fair elections,” said Qureshi, adding that the ECP had failed to ensure transparency. He maintained that this was not something new, but had been happening for the past several years.
He said that the opposition had been invited to embrace open ballots, but one could see the difference between what they practice and what they preach.
He stated that the PTI did not find the ECP’s efforts to ensure transparency up to the standard.
“In this fight, the nation is watching who stands where,” he said. “I want to ensure the voter, who cast their vote for the bat [PTI election symbol] that the fight will go on.”
Qureshi stated that this was a sad day for democracy.
“I say this because as per our fears, a video and audio surfaced a night before the elections and Fawad Chaudhry tried to knock the doors of the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan), but there was silence there.” The minister added that it was surprising that elections were to be held the next day but no one from the ECP was available.
THE ELECTION:
The polling for 37 seats of the Senate started at 9 am and came to a close at 5 pm after voting was held smoothly under the supervision of the Election Commission.
Following unofficial results started coming in from the National Assembly and three provinces:
CENTRE:
The joint candidate of the PDM defeated the incumbent government’s candidate to claim the coveted seat in the federal capital.
In the NA, the first vote was cast by PTI’s Shafiq Arain, while the second one was cast by Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda.
According to unofficial results, Gillani bagged 169 votes, while his rival Shaikh received 164 votes. Seven votes were set aside, and it is unclear whether they had been rejected or will be used.
After Gilani was declared the winner, he was seen shaking hands and walking on the Senate floor with Shaikh. “I would like to thank the PDM,” said Gilani at a press conference in the evening alongside PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. “This win is a win for democracy.”
Meanwhile, the women seat from the capital went to PTI’s Fozia Arshad, who defeated PML-N’s Farzana Kausar.
On the instructions of the party leadership, Jamat-e-Islami (JI) MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali did not vote for any candidate in the Senate election.
JI had earlier announced to abstain from voting in the Senate elections in Sindh and Centre.
SINDH:
In the Sindh Assembly, 167 out of 168 members cast their votes as JI member Abdul Rashid did not cast his vote. Out of the 167 ballot papers cast, four were rejected.
PPP’s Saleem Mandviwalla, Sherry Rehman, Taj Haider, Shahadat Aiwan, and Jam Mehtab Dhar were elected to general seats.
Among the government candidates PTI’s Faisal Vawda won one seat while its allied party Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Faisal Sabzwari won the other.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Palwasha Khan won the woman’s seat with 60 votes. MQM-P candidate Khalida Ateeb emerged the second victor.
PPP’s Farooq H Naek won one of the technocrat seats with five more votes that the opponents, whereas PTI’s Saifullah Abro won the other with 57 votes.
BALOCHISTAN:
In the Balochistan Assembly all 65 members cast their votes, with the last vote cast by Mir Hamal Kalmati of the Balochistan National Party (BNP).
Independent candidate Abdul Qadir, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, BNP’s Muhammad Qasim and Awami National Party’s (ANP) Arbab Umar Farooq have each been elected to a general seat.
Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) also scored a sizeable victory with candidates Ahmed Kakar, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti and Ahmed Umar Ahmed victorious on general seats.
BAP candidate Samina Mumtaz, who was backed by the government, and independent candidate Nasima Ahsan, who joined ANP a day earlier, won the technocrat seats.
Government-backed BAP candidate Dhanesh Kumar won the minority seat.
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly all 145 votes were cast. The polling time had been extended due to some unknown difficulties.
PTI’s Shibli Faraz, Mohsin Aziz, Zeeshan Khanzada, Faisal Saleem and Liaqat Khan Tarakai have won a general seat each.
Awami National Party’s (ANP) Hidayatullah Khan also one won seat, besides JUI-F’s Attaur Rehman.
PTI candidates for two technocrat seats emerged victorious in Senate polls. Dost Muhammad Khan of PTI obtained 59 votes while Hamayan Khan of same party got 49 votes, according to unofficial results.
Farhatullah Babar of PPP got 34 votes and lost the seat.
Of the two women seats, PTI’s Sania Nishtar won one, with 56 votes, while another candidate from the party, Falak Naz obtained the other with 51 votes.
PTI won the minority seat as well with Gurdeep Singh.
Polling started under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with a total of 78 candidates contesting from Balochistan, Sindh, KP, and Islamabad.
11 Senate hopefuls from Punjab were elected unopposed on February 25 after disqualification or withdrawal of papers by other contestants. Five seats each went to the PTI and PML-N, while one was grabbed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), an aide of the PTI in Punjab and at the Centre.
PTI was seeking to wrest control of the Senate from opposition parties. It had 12 seats in the House, and the PPP and PML-N had 12 and 25 seats each.
PTI was looking to go up to 25 seats after the elections, and, along with other coalition parties and independents, have a slender majority in the Senate which the government needs to pass key legislation, including legal reforms sought by global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
