ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) have reached an agreement over fielding joint candidates for Senate chairman and deputy chairman seats, sources told ARY News on Sunday.
According to the sources, the opposition parties have formed consensuses to support a group of independent senators-elect from Balochistan and Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) for Senate top seats.
In light of the agreement between the two rival parties, the sources claimed that both parties vowed to support a senator-elect from Balochistan for Senate chairman seat and a candidate from FATA for deputy chairman seat of the upper house of the parliament.
Earlier today, the PTI spokesperson confirmed support to newly elected Senator Sadiq Sanjrani from Balochistan as candidate for the post of Senate chairman.
Talking to media following a meeting between party chairman Imran Khan and Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, the spokesperson said the party chief agreed on Sadiq Sanjrani as candidate for Senate chairmanship.
On the other hand, the PPP leadership is still to make an official announcement pertaining to the names of their candidates for the Senate top seats.
Number game
Pakistan’s Senate comprises of 104 members and to replace the outgoing Senate chairman Raza Rabbani with their candidates, the mainstream parties need at least 53 votes.
The PML-N emerged as the largest parliamentary group of the house with 33 Senators. While, the PPP has overall 20 seats in the Senate and the PTI stands third major party in the Senate with 13 seats.
The groups of independent senators-elect from Balochistan and Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) are believed to play a crucial role in the upcoming election for the offices of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
 and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) have reached an agreement over fielding joint candidates for election of Senate chairman and deputy chairman, sources told ARY News on Sunday.){kind=link}