Polling on vacant seats of Senate gets underway

ISLAMABAD: Polling to elect thirty members of the Senate on Tuesday kicked off, ARY News reported.

In total, 59 candidates are vying for the vacant seats.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has already notified eighteen candidates as unopposed returned on vacant seats in Balochistan and Punjab.

Polling for the rest of the thirty seats is being held in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh.

Polling started in the National Assembly and three provincial assemblies at nine in the morning and will conclude at 4pm.

Read more: Senate polls: PPP, MQM-P MPAs to vote for Faisal Vawda

Ballot papers in four different colours have also been printed for the Senate elections.

White papers will be used for General seats, Green for Technocrat seats, Pink for Women, and Yellow for Minority seats.

In a separate development, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmakers would vote for former federal minister Faisal Vawda in Senate polls.

Senate elections in KP postponed 

The provincial election commissioner has postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the application of the opposition members.

Provincial Election Commissioner Shamshad Khan after consulting with the CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the postponement of Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The opposition members moved the ECP as the dispute over the swearing-in of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s opposition members elected to reserved seats remains unresolved.