Govt candidates bag chairman, deputy chairman slots in hotly-contested Senate race

After a Senate race that saw a fair share of controversy, both government-backed candidates Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Muhammad Afridi won to clinch the posts of chairman and deputy chairman.

Chairman election
As balloting for the chairman election began, JUI-F's Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri cast the first vote, with a total of 98 votes cast.

Sanjrani obtained 48 votes, whereas Gillani received 42 — a difference of six votes.

Seven votes were rejected for bearing a stamp on Gillani's name and one for having a stamp on both candidates' names, instead of the box allotted next to the names.

The presiding officer, Senator Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, administered the oath of chairman to Sanjrani.

The Opposition's Qasim Gillani, the son of the candidate who lost, said that the rejection of votes will be challenged in the election tribunal.

Deputy chairman election
The deputy chairman election, on the other hand, went off without a hitch, without any votes being rejected.

PTI's Mirza Muhammad Afridi defeated the joint opposition’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri after receiving 54 votes, with the latter getting 44, a difference of 10 votes.

Surprise result?
In terms of numerical strength, the opposition had a clear edge with 52 members, including one belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami on its side over the ruling coalition’s 47 members.

However, with the election for the two key slots through secret ballot, surprise results were already anticipated.

In an earlier surprise, Gillani defeated the government candidate Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the March 3 Senate elections.

Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk

Govt candidates bag chairman, deputy chairman slots in hotly-contested Senate race

Back to Pakistanlink Home