Pakistan Senate Bypolls: PPP Wins Four, PML-N And JUI-F One Each

Islamabad [Pakistan]: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won four Senate seats while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) secured wins in one seat each in the bye-elections held on Thursday, Pakistan-based The News International reported.

The polling for the six Senate seats in the National, Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies on Thursday started at 9 am (local time) and ended at 4 pm (local time). These six seats fell vacant under Article 223 of the Constitution, which bans lawmakers from holding dual membership.

The subsection 4 of the article states, "Subject to clause (2) if a member of either House or of a Provincial Assembly becomes a candidate for a second sear which, in accordance with clause (1), he may not hold concurrently with his first seat, then his first seat shall become vacant as soon as he is elected to the second seat", The News International reported.

In Sindh, 124 votes were cast to fill the two vacant general seats in the Upper House. After the counting, PPP leaders Jam Saifullah Khan Dharejo and Muhammad Aslam Abro were elected to the Senate, obtaining 58 and 57 votes respectively.

Meanwhile, Nazeerullah and Shazia Sohail of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) received 4 votes each. During the counting, one vote was rejected, The News International reported.
The seats had fallen vacant after PPP senators Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and Jam Mehtab Dahar were elected to the Sindh Assembly in the general elections held on February 8.

The Provincial Election Commissioner, Sindh, Sharifullah, acted as the returning officer in the Sindh Assembly. Meanwhile, the Muttahid Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) boycotted the polling, sources told Geo News without mentioning further details, The News International reported.

In the Balochistan Assembly, 61 votes were cast for the three general seats of the Senate from the province. Seven candidates were contesting for three seats. However, PPP's Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, PML-N's Mir Dostain Khan Domki and JUI-F's Abdul Shakoor Khan secured the win in the polls.

Bizenjo received 23 seats, Domki got elected with 17 votes and the JUI-F's candidate got 16 votes. These three Senate seats became vacant after senators Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti and Prince Ahmad Umar Ahmadzai became members of the National and Balochistan assemblies in the general elections held on February 8.

On Wednesday, the leaders of JUI-F and PPP held talks and decided to support each other's candidates in the Senate by-polls. The PPP sought JUI-F's support for its candidate from Islamabad, while JUI-F sought backing for its candidate in the Senate by-polls in Balochistan.

PPP leader Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani retained the seat he vacated in the Islamabad National Assembly. Gilani, who was a joint candidate of the ruling coalition of six parties, bagged 204 votes in comparison to his rival Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) Ilyas Mehrban, who managed to receive only 88 votes, Pakistan-based The News International reported.

During the counting of the votes, nine votes were rejected during the vote count. The elections were held on the seat that had fallen vacant after Gilani was elected as a Member of the National Assembly in the February 8 polls.