Sanjrani takes oath for second Senate chairmanship amid ruckus in house

ISLAMABAD: The presiding officer in charge of Senate chairman polls Friday has convened Sadiq Sanjrani to take oath as Senate chairman for the second time but house members from the opposition alliance cause commotion over wasted votes, ARY News reported.

As the oath-taking took place, the house experienced a row raised by Pakistan Peoples Party’s Farooq H Naik who argued against discarding seven votes which could have meant a win for joint opposition alliance’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The Senate chairmanship candidate for Sadiq Sanjrani won the top seat in the upper house of the parliament supported by the ruling party’s alliance as he contended against Gilani.

Sanjrani with his renewed chairmanship received 47 senate votes from the house while the front-runner for joint opposition alliance Gilani could claim 44 votes with about 7 votes were rendered wasted.

The voting for the coveted post of Senate chairman has concluded just moments ago following which the vote count began at 5 pm.

According to the presiding officer, 98 senators cast their votes to elect a new Senate chairman. The crucial contest for the top Senate slots commenced after the presiding officer (PO) Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah administered the oath to the newly-elected senators earlier today.