PTI-backed Sadiq Sanjrani becomes Senate chairman for the second time

ISLAMABAD, MAR 12: Sadiq Sanjrani has won the election for the Senate chairman's post. He received 48 votes. PDM candidate Yousuf Raza Gillani received 42 votes, according to Presiding Officer Muzaffar Hussain Shah. Seven votes polled for the PDM candidate were rejected.

Mirza Mohammad Afridi was elected as the Senate deputy chairman with 54 votes. His rival, PDM's Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, received 44 votes.

JUI's Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri became the first senator to cast his vote for the Senate chairman election as the polling started at 3pm. It continued till 5pm.

Ninety-eight senators cast their votes. PML-N's Ishaq Dar and JI's Mushtaq Ahmad Khan didn't vote.

Celebrations began in Sanjrani’s native Chaghi district. His supporters and BAP workers took to streets with flags and chanted slogans in favour of the newly elected Senate chairman.

PPP to challenge Sanjrani’s victory

The Pakistan Peoples Party has decided to challenge Sadiq

Sanjrani's victory in an election tribunal. The votes should not have been

rejected, party leaders said.

Farooq H Naek said the instructions didn’t say where exactly the vote should be stamped or that it should be inside the box.

The party has two options, according to PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar. It can either challenge Sanjrani's victory in court or bring a no-confidence motion against him.

“We reject this election,” Raja Pervez Ashraf said. “The PDM rejects this election.”

Ashraf was speaking to reporters along with PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal and PPP's Qamar Zaman Kaira.

“We will not let them snatch this election,” Qamar Zaman Kaira said. The government couldn’t stop the opposition’s long march through such tactics, he added.

“We have the option of a no-confidence motion,” Ashraf said. “The PDM will take a decision in this regard.”

'PDM won today'

“The PDM won today. We got 49 votes and the government’s

candidate got 48 votes,” Ahsan Iqbal said. He was referring to the seven

rejected votes that were polled in favour of Gillani.

The PML-N leader said if the voter stamped the name of the

candidate on the ballot paper, then it should be considered valid and there are

several SC orders to support it.

“We will challenge it in court,” Iqbal said, adding that

they expect the court to “correct” the injustice.

'Nothing will happen'

But Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed ruled out the

possibility of a change in result. “Nothing will happen,” he told SAMAA TV.

“In Pakistan, it has become a pattern that those who lose

they don’t accept their defeat,” Rasheed added.

Forty-eight new members, who were elected by the country's MNAs and MPAs on March 3, took oath after the session started at 10am.

The nomination papers of all four candidates contesting the election had been approved. Here are the contenders:

• Senate chairman: PTI-backed Sadiq Sanjrani vs PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani
• Deputy chairman: PTI's Mirza Mohammad Afridi vs JUI's Maulana Ghafoor Haideri

A tough and close competition was expected as the winner needed a simple majority of 51. The house comprises 100 members but 98 members voted as Ishaq Dar is in London and Mushtaq Ahmad was not supporting either candidate. Both PTI and PDM have claimed that they have the support of 51 senators.

At the start of the session, opposition senators claimed that spy cameras were installed over polling booths and demanded action.

The presiding officer assured them that new polling booths would be set up, while the Senate secretary said the matter would be investigated.

Voting procedure

Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, who is presiding over the special session, explained the voting procedure to the senators.

He said that ballot papers have been printed in Urdu. The names of the candidates are in Urdu and there is a box next to it.

The senators will have to stamp the ballot paper in the booth. "If there is any mistake, then approach the secretary and he will ensure that you are issued another ballot paper."

He advised the senators to fold the ballot properly to make sure that the ink does not spread and it leads to their vote not being counted.

The names of the senators will be called out in alphabetical order and they must then approach the Senate secretary. They will be handed a green ballot paper. "The green ballot paper is for the Senate chairman."

Senators cannot carry their mobile phones, cameras, or any electronic device to the polling booth.

Spy camera controversy

The PPP senators staged a protest before the session started. They claimed that spy cameras have been installed over polling booths.

Politicians react

Here's what different politicians, senators, MNAs have said about the spy camera accusations:

Yousaf Raza Gillani: We have the majority but they have more tactics. The whole spy camera controversy is embarrassing for the entire nation. This has brought international humiliation to the country.

Maryam Nawaz: The Constitution mentions secret votes and not secret cameras. Shame on the government for stealing votes. Every time these people try to find new ways to steal votes, they are caught red-handed. The situation has become so bad that they resorted to spying on their own members. This is historical humiliation.

Musadiq Malik: The Election Commission should take notice of this. People responsible for this should be disqualified as they are neither amin nor sadiq.

Maulana Ghafoor Haideri: Those who installed spy cameras should be ashamed. He said that he is confident that these tactics will not decrease his chances of winning as the opposition has a clear majority in the Senate.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: The government should try to defeat the opposition fair and square rather than engaging in different tactics. They can only defeat us through the use of cameras.

Shibli Faraz: The opposition's sinister plan of installing cameras in polling booths has been exposed. They are using all “criminal tactics” because they know they don’t have the support of the majority. This is why the PDM was against open balloting.

Faisal Javed: The opposition senators think of themselves as James Bond 007. How did they know where spy cameras have been installed? They directly went to the polling booths and this shows that they knew something we didn’t.

Imran Ismail: The matter should be investigated. This was nothing but drama. Look at the technology now. Who uses such spy cameras anymore?

New senators

Here are all the candidates that were elected senators during the elections on March 3.

Islamabad

General seat
PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani

Women seat
PTI's Fawzia Arshad

Punjab

General seats
Kamil Ali Agha (PML)
Afnanullah Khan (PML-N)
Sajid Mir (PML-N)
Irfanul Haque Siddiqui (PML-N)
Saifullah Sarwar Khan (PTI)
Aon Abbas (PTI)
Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry (PTI)

Technocrat seats
Syed Ali Zafar (PTI)
Azam Nazeer Tarar (PML-N)

Women seats
Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur (PTI)
Saadia Abbasi (PML-N)

Sindh

General seats
Sherry Rehman (PPP)
Saleem Mandviwalla (PPP)
Taj Haider (PPP)
Shahadat Awan (PPP)
Jam Hussain Dahar (PPP)
Faisal Vawda (PTI)
Faisal Subzwari (MQM-P)

Technocrat seats
Farooq H Naek (PPP)
Saifullah Abro (PTI)

Women seats
Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan (PPP)
Khalida Ateeb (MQM-P)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

General seats
Mohsin Aziz (PTI)
Liaqat Khan Tarakai (PTI)
Shibli Faraz (PTI)
Faisal Saleem Rehman (PTI)
Zeeshan Khan Zada (PTI)
Hidayatullah Khan (ANP)
Attaur Rehman (JUIP)

Technocrat seats
Dost Muhammad Khan (PTI)
Muhammad Humayun Mohmand (PTI)

Women seats
Sania Nishtar (PTI)
Falak Naz (PTI)

Non-muslim seat
Gurdeep Singh (PTI)

Balochistan

General seats
Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti (BAP)
Manzoor Ahmed (BAP)
Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai (BAP)
Muhammad Abdul Qadir (IND)
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri (JUIP)
Umer Farooq (ANP)

Technocrat seats
Kamran Murtaza (JUIP)
Saeed Ahmed Hashmi (BAP)

Women seats
Samina Mumtaz (BAP)
Naseema Ehsan (IND)

Non-muslim seat
Danesh Kumar (BAP)

Rigging accusations

The government and opposition parties have accused each other of horse-trading and buying votes of senators during the elections.

On Thursday, some PML-N members claimed that the agencies have been attempting to rig the election.

ISI officials are making phone calls to PML-N senators in an attempt to make them switch their loyalties in the March 12 election for Senate chairman, PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Thursday. Maryam Nawaz, the party's vice-president, also claimed that party members have been receiving calls telling them to not to vote for PDM's candidates.

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COURTESY SAMAA

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