Pakistani Senate election, 2015

Pakistani Senate election, 2015

5 March 2015

52 of the 104 seats in the Senate of Pakistan 51 seats needed for a majority   Leader Raja Zafar ul Haq Rehman Malik Party Pakistan Muslim League (N) Pakistan Peoples Party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Last election 16 40 0 Seats up 24 10 10 Seats up 0

Senate elections were held in Pakistan on 5 March 2015 to elect the replacements for 52 retiring senators. Those retiring include chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and deputy chairman Sabir Ali Baloch of the upper house. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the majority party in Senate, would lose 21 members, followed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz would lose 9 and Awami National Party would lose 6 members.^[1][2]

According to the schedule issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), nomination papers for the election were submitted on 12 and 13 February, while scrutiny of the papers was held on 16 and 17 February. The list of contesting candidates was issued on 25 February. Polling for the 52 seats will be held on 5 March. For 11 seats, each of the four provinces' polling will be held in the provincial capitals, while polling for seats from the federal capital and FATA will be held in the National Assembly. According to the ECP notification, in each province elections will be held for seven general seats, two seats for technocrats and Ulema and two reserved seats for women.^[3][4]

Elections are held indirectly; to win one seat in Senate, the candidates would require 52 votes from the Punjab Assembly, 24 from the Sindh Assembly, 18 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 9 from the Balochistan Assembly.^[5][6]

Candidates

Punjab

For Punjab, 15 candidates are eyeing seven general seats, four candidates eyeing two women-reserved seats and two candidates eyeing two technocrat seats.^[7]

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 candidates are in run for seven general seats.^[8]

Sindh

For Sindh, 18 candidates are eyeing seven general seats, six candidates eyeing two women seats and four candidates eyeing two technocrat seats

Election Day

According to The Express Tribune, four contestants already elected unopposed in Sindh – two each from the PPP and MQM – voting was held for the remaining 48 seats with members of the provincial assemblies electing senators on their respective provincial quotas – seven for Sindh, 11 for Punjab, 12 each for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan for different categories of seats. Members of the National Assembly will be voting for two seats for Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) while MNAs from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will elect four senators from the tribal belt.

According to the final list of contestants notified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 84 candidates will contest for 33 general seats from the provinces, Fata and the ICT while 22 candidates will contest for eight seats reserved for women in the provinces and ICT. Eighteen candidates will contest for eight seats reserved for technocrats, including Ulema, while eight others will run for two seats – one each from K-P and Balochistan – reserved for minorities.^[9]

Violation of party discipline

According to the Pakistan Today, in clear violation of the party discipline, members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies have proposed and seconded independent or other political parties’ nominees for the Senate elections. ^[10]

Election Fraud Allegations and Delays

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Pakistan Peoples Party member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, Nighat Orakzai claimed that the ballot papers are being taken to outside the assembly and being stamped, while talking to Dunya News. She alleged to be verbally abused by a government parliamentarians. Additionally, the media was barred from entering the premises of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly. Around 11:00 am PST the polling was stopped at the assembly and failed to resume. A lengthy meeting between Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and opposition members took place to resume the voting process, however failed to resume the elections leading the provincial government recommending Election Commission to delay the vote.^[11] ECP delayed polling in the K-P Assembly has been to 8pm PST.
• Federally Administered Tribal Areas: According to Radio Pakistan around 12:48pm, polling for the election of four Senators from FATA was stopped after protest from parliamentarians in protest from a Presidential ordinance restricts the representatives from FATA to just one vote instead of four votes.^[12]

Results

According to unofficial results released by Dunya News, Pakistan Muslim League (N) won 16 seats, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) got seven, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won five, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) collected four,the National Party and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party got three seats each, Balochistan National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) got one seat each while an independent candidate also became senator from Balochistan. The PML-N and its allied parties in the province including NP and PkMAP won nine seats.^[13]

Punjab

According to the results, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has won all eleven seats of Senate from Punjab. Those who have been elected against general seats are Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Minister for Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan, Ch Tanwir, Saleem Zia, retired Lt Genera us Khan, Dr. Ghaos Muhammad Khan Niazi and Nehal Hashmi. Raja Zafar ul Haq and Prof Sajid Mir have been elected against seats reserved for technocrats while Najma Hameed, and Ayesha Raza against seats reserved for women.

Sindh

Four candidates from Sindh have already been elected unopposed including Farooq Naek and Sassui Palejo of the PPP and Barrister Muhammad Saif and Nighat Mirza of the MQM. While Engineer Gianchand, Islamuddin Sheikh, Abdul Latif Ansari, Rehman Malik and Salim Mandviwala of PPP are elected from Sindh on Senate general seats. Similarly Muttahida Qaumi Movement candidates – Mian Muhammad Ateeq and Khushbakht Shujaat secured victories from Sindh on general seats.

Balochistan

In Balochistan’s Senate elections Niamatullah Zehri of PML-N, Abdul Ghafoor Haidery of JUI-F, Usman Kakar and Sardar Mohammad Azam Khan of Pakhtunkhuwa Milli Awami Party, Hasil Khan Bazenjo of National Party, Dr Jahanzaib Jamaldini of BNP (Mengal), and Yousaf Badeni (independent) have been elected.

Mir Kabir Ahmed of National Party and Engineer Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani of PML-N were elected as senator on Technocrats while Kalsoom Perveen of PML-N and Gul Bashra of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party won the elections on women reserved seats.

Dr Ashok Kumar of National Party was elected as Senator on minority seat.

Islamabad

PML-N candidates have won both the Senate seats from the Federal Capital. In the polling held at the National Assembly hall today, the party’s candidate against general seat Iqbal Zafar Jhagra secured 211 votes. Raheela Magsi, also of PML-N, secured 205 votes to win the seat reserved for women from Islamabad.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PTI’s Shibli Faraz, Nauman Wazir, Mohsin Aziz, Samina Abid and John Kenneth Williams won. Other victories include JUI-F’s Maulana Attaur Rehman, PPP's Khanzada Khan, PML-N’s Lt. Gen Salahuddin Tirmzi and Jamaat Islami’s ameer Siraj-ul-Haq Khan were declared senators.^[14]

Composition

Before 2015 elections

After 2015 elections

References

Elections and referendums in Pakistan
General elections	1920¹ 1923¹ 1926¹ 1930¹ 1934¹ 1945¹ 1970 1977 1985 1988 1990 1993 1997 2002 2008 2013 2018
Senate elections	2006 2009 2012 2015 2018
Regional elections	1937 1946 1951 1953 1954
Referendums	1960 1984 2002
¹ As part of British India