Summary 131 candidates are contesting for 48 seats in the Upper House of Parliament.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Polling for 48 Senate seats is underway in the national and provincial assemblies, Dunya News reported on Thursday.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 131 candidates are contesting for 48 seats in the Upper House of Parliament.
The Senate is a continuous body and the Senators are elected for six years but under the law, half of the 104- member House retire after every three years.
The Senate gives equal representation to all four provinces, including 23 each from the four provinces, eight from FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and four from Islamabad.
The seats allocated to a province comprise 14 general seats, four reserved for women, four for technocrats and one for a minority member.
The elections are being held through secret ballot and the Election Commission of Pakistan has restricted all members of the National and Provincial Assemblies from carrying mobile phones or any electronic device that can take a picture.
Four candidates from Sindh have already been elected unopposed. The candidates include Farooq H. Naek of PPP and Muhammad Ali Saif of MQM on technocrat seats. Similarly, Sassi Palijo of PPP and Nighat Mirza of MQM were elected against reserved seats for women.
The voting process would continue till 04:00pm.
