Senate Showdown
Live Reporting
THE NUMBER GAME TODAY
The former ruling party PTI is set to be the largest party in the Senate, having 20 senators at present and the potential to win seven more seats, bringing it’s tally to 27.
The party has, however, announced a boycott of the Senate elections in Sindh, alleging that pre-poll rigging could lead to the unopposed victory of all 12 candidates from the province, where the PPP enjoys majority. As a result, the PPP would be a close second, with 25 seats as it already has 13 seats.
The incumbent ruling party the PML-N, with a predicted total 20 seats, of which 13 are already senators, will be the third largest in the Senate.
THE ELECTION
To contest Senate elections, the candidate must be a Pakistani citizen, at least 30 years of age, and a registered voter of the province/region he/she is contesting from, besides fulfilling other requirements laid down in Article 62 of the Constitution.
Polling takes place in the four respective provincial assemblies, and for the federal capital seats, polling takes place in the National Assembly.
The Senate elections are not direct elections. Only elected members of assemblies can cast votes under secret balloting. Voters come up to polling booths and cast their vote one by one.
Also unlike the general election, the voting system used in the Senate election is not the ‘first past the post’ system. (First past the post system: whoever gets the highest number of votes is the winner.)
Instead, the ‘single transferable vote’ system of proportional representation is used.
THE PAST
The Senate used to have 104 members, but the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the 25th amendment reduced the members from 104 to 100 in 2021, and from 100 to 96 in 2024.
Therefore, today’s elections will see 48 new senators join the upper house; 12 each from Punjab and Sindh, 11 each from KP and Balochistan and two from capital territory Islamabad.
ECP postpones Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
PESHAWAR (Dunya News) - The Election Commissioner of Pakistan (ECP) has postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Election Commissioner Shamshad Khan annonced commission's decision as returning officer for the KP Assembly.
Code of Conduct
The code aims to guarantee transparency, integrity, and fairness throughout the electoral process. The code of conduct imposes stringent guidelines on political parties and the candidates involved in the elections.
They have been urged to avoid making the electoral watchdog controversial and are prohibited from engaging in corrupt or illegal activities. Additionally, any support from public office holders to influence election outcomes is strictly forbidden.
According to the ECP, the elections aim to fill the seats left vacant by half of the current senators who retired on March 12. Out of the 52 senators who completed their six-year terms and retired, elections are being held for 48 seats.
This is because four seats were abolished following the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) regions into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Consequently, the Senate’s total number of seats has decreased from 100 to 96. Recently, the ECP released a detailed code of conduct for parties and candidates ahead of the Senate elections.
Polling underway to elect 30 senators
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Polling for 30 vacant seats of the Senate is underway following unopposed election of 18 senators from Punjab and Balochistan. At least 59 candidates are in the run for the senate elections.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan has completed all preparations for the nationwide Senate elections scheduled for Tuesday (today.
