340 lawmakers cast vote in NA; JI not to take part in Senate polls

ISLAMABAD: 340 out of 341 lawmakers from the National Assembly have cast their votes, whereas, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) decided not to take part in Senate elections in the Centre, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has decided not to take part in the voting process for Senate elections. The religio-political party has the sole Member of National Assembly (MNA) Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali who was not present in the Parliament during the Upper House polls.

The Returning Officer (RO) made an announcement in the NA that only one vote was left to be cast and the polling staff will wait till 5:00 pm.

Read: Voting underway for Senate elections on 37 seats

The RO announced that despite completing the number of the vote cast in the polls, the staff will wait for the official conclusion of the voting time. The RO also directed all lawmakers to go outside.

During the vote count, the candidates along with one polling agent will be allowed to witness the process.

There will be a one-to-one contest between Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for a general seat and PTI’s Fauzia Arshad and PML-N’s Farzana Kausar for a women’s seat.

The ruling PTI holds 157 seats, PML-N 83, PPP 55, 15 MMA, MQM-P 7, BAP 5, PML-Q 4, BNP 4, GDA 3, AML 1, ANP 1, JWP 1, JI 1 and four are independent members.