STAFF members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly make final arrangements on Tuesday for polling to elect new members of the upper house of parliament; and (right) Karim Bakhsh Gabol, a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf member of the Sindh Assembly who has said he will not vote for his party’s candidates in Senate elections, is grabbed by a colleague, Raja Azhar, after he enters the assembly hall. PPI
• ECP rejects govt plea, upholds vote privacy
• Fawad says offer to provide technology turned down
• PTI’s strength may almost double in Senate
ISLAMABAD: As the dust settles over the open ballot controversy that kept the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a war of words besides a legal battle for months before the much-awaited Supreme Court decision, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will conduct polling for the Senate election on Wednesday (today) as per past practice without employing any technology for vote traceability.
Danesh Kumar BAP (Minorities)
Polling continued until after 5pm in the KP Assembly, where the ECP allowed lawmakers already inside the legislature to cast their votes. Polling did not take place on Wednesday in Punjab where all Senate candidates were elected unopposed last month after disqualification or withdrawal of papers by other contestants.
Yousuf Gilani vs Hafeez Shaikh
While the ruling PTI’s numerical strength in the Senate was expected to almost double from the existing 14 seats, the hottest contest was expected between Gilani and Shaikh.
Opposition s Yousuf Raza Gilani meets PTI s Hafeez Shaikh in NA. Screengrab from PTV
Hours before polling commenced, the contest became even more controversial with the emergence of a video of Gilani s son, Ali Haider, explaining to certain lawmakers how to cancel their votes.
PTI gets the lion’s share in Senate polls
With 18 fresh seats, ruling party’s tally in upper house rises to 26
PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Barring the federal setback, Wednesday’s Senate elections didn’t spring any major surprise as the ruling PTI dethroned its political arch-nemesis, the PML-N, as the single largest party in the upper house of parliament. This was what political pundits had predicted based on the governing party’s numerical strength in the four provincial assemblies.
Lawmakers in the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa voted to elect 37 senators. Punjab had already returned 11 senators unopposed as a result of a rare consensus among the government and the opposition there. In all, 48 senators have been elected to replace the retiring members of the upper house of parliament.
PTI makes substantial gains in Senate but suffers major setback in lslamabad - Pakistan dawn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dawn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Top Story
February 25, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Wednesday said a political party is more important than a party leader in a democracy.
The Chief Justice made these remarks while heading a five-member larger bench that had taken up a presidential reference seeking open balloting in the upcoming Senate elections.
At the outset of hearing, Advocate Kamran Murtaza, counsel for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), said the Attorney-General “might have misunderstood and he would argue the case before the court”. The Chief Justice responded that the court would hear his arguments.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) central leader Raza Rabbani, continuing his arguments, said he would try to conclude his arguments in 30 minutes. Upon this, the Chief Justice advised him to start his arguments “directly from the main point”.