All set for Senate by-election at Punjab Assembly today
Pakistan
PML-N Rana Sanaullah, PTI Salma Ejaz Chaudhry are contesting
LAHORE (Dunya News) - The Senate by-election from Punjab for a genera seat is scheduled to be held on Tuesday (today). The seat fell vacant after PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry was disqualified following his convection in May 9 riots case by a court of law.
According to the Election Commission, the polling time will be uninterrupted from 9am to 5pm. The voting process will take place in the new building of the Punjab Assembly. Rana Sanaullah is the candidate from the PML-N and the government coalition parties, while Salma Ejaz, the wife of Ejaz Chaudhry, is the candidate from the opposition.
A candidate will need 180 votes to win. The current total number of members in the Punjab Assembly is 363, while 8 seats are vacant. Six opposition members were disqualified, while 1 member has not yet taken the oath, and the matter of one seat is in court.
Sources have claimed that Rana Sanaullah has the support of 263 votes, Salma Ejaz from the opposition has the support of 100 votes, PML-N has 229 votes, PPP has 16, IPP has 7, and PML-Q has 11 votes.
Sunni Ittehad Council has 73 votes, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has 24 votes, Tehreek-e-Labbaik, Muslim League Zia and Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen have one vote each.
Deputy Opposition Leader Moin Qureshi has said that the opposition has boycotted the by-election and will not cast its votes.
He said that he had issued instructions that if any opposition member went to the assembly, he would be violating party policy. He could not withdraw his nomination papers because the time limit had expired.
