ISLAMABAD (PEN) – Prime Minister Shehabz Sharif and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif cast their vote for Senate election.
Polling is underway in National as well as Sindh and Punjab assemblies simultaneously to elect 19 senators on different seats. As many as 35 candidates are in the field for 19 Senate seats whereas 18 senators have been declared winners unopposed.
From Islamabad, Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) is contesting on the technocrat seat, Rana Mehmoodul Hasan of the Pakistan People’s Party on the general seat, Ansar Mehmood supported by PTI on the technocrat seat and Farzand Hussain Shah is contesting on the general seat.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Provincial Election Commissioner Shamshad Khan announced commission’s decision as returning officer for the KP Assembly.
Earlier, Opposition lawmakers in KP Assembly had submitted a resolution to the provincial election commissioner to postpone the Senate elections.
Arrangements were complete for conducting Senate elections in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The staff for holding Senate elections was present in the assembly, however, polling for the uppher house election could not be started even after 10 am.
The request for deferment of elections was submitted by Ahmed Karim Kundi of the opposition to the provincial election commissioner. The opposition member took the stance that 25 members on reserved seats had not taken oath as yet so the election should be postponed.