Newly-elected senators take oath

ISLAMABAD: Presiding Officer (PO) Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah has administered the oath to the newly-elected senators for the next six years, ARY News reported on Friday.

The newly-elected 48 senators have taken oath which was administered by the presiding officer (PO) Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah.

In the next phase of the ongoing session, the Upper House will elect its chairman and deputy chairman.

Later, the Senate session was adjourned till 3:00 pm due to Friday prayers while the election staff will start receiving the nomination papers of candidates for the chairmanship and deputy chairmanship till 12:00 noon.

Read: ‘Spy cameras’ found in polling both ahead of crucial Senate chairman election

The scrutiny process of the nominations will be completed by 12:30 pm. The presiding officer announced that the secrecy of votes will be maintained. He also summoned names of the polling agents from the candidates for the positions of Senate chairman and deputy chairman which would be submitted to the Upper House secretary.

Senate elections on vacant seats

As the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the 18 seats in Senate elections 2021 after having suffered a major setback in Islamabad, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) backed candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani had pulled off a surprise win on a Senate seat from Islamabad.

The PTI–backed candidates had won 10 out of a total of 12 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), five from Punjab (unopposed), two from Sindh, and one Senate seat from Islamabad, according to un0fficial results.

As per unofficial results, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), which is an ally of ruling PTI won six Senate seats. Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) secured victory on 2 Senate seats from Sindh Assembly.

Similarly, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has won eight Senate seats, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) five, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) secured three seats, Awami National Party (ANP) 2, BNP-Mengal one, PML-Q 1, whereas, two Senate seats were won by independent candidates, unofficial results show.

The PTI’s tally in the Senate now stands at 25. After eight seats, PPP’s total seats in the upper house stands at 21, PML-N 18, BAP has now a total of 12 seats in Senate, JUI-F five and MQM-P three.