Peshawar/Karachi (March 01, 2018): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party, and Jamaat-e-Islami entered into an alliance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and PSP, PML F and PTI have expedited efforts for getting their candidates elected ahead of the Senate elections on Saturday.
According to the sources, meeting of representatives from the three parties held at the residence of PML-N leader Ameer Muqam on Thursday, in which it was decided to form an alliance for joint candidates in senate elections on March 3.
The meeting had Muqam, Inayatullah, Sardar Hussain Bobak, Pir Sabir Shah and Sardar Aurangzeb Nalota in presence, they said.
The meeting decided to get ANP candidate elected on a women’s seat in the upper house, sources added.
On the other hand, opposition parties in Sindh have also expedited efforts for getting their candidates elected in the Senate polls.
Members from Pak Sarzameen Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and Tehreek-e-Insaf held meetings in this regard on Thursday.
The representatives resolved to support each other in Saturday’s polls.
The Senate Elections will be held in all four provincial assemblies on Saturday (Tomorrow) to elect 52 senate seats.
According to Election Commission of Pakistan one hundred and thirty five candidates will contest the elections.
Twelve Senators each from Punjab and Sindh, 11 members each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, four lawmakers from FATA, and two members from the federal capital will be elected.
Polling process will be started from 0900 and continued till 0400 in the afternoon
The Election Commission of Pakistan, in a review meeting, has taken several decisions to ensure vote privacy during the elections.
The Commission decided that returning officers will ensure that no voter exposes his vote’s privacy and neither be allowed to take issued ballot paper outside the polling station and in case of non-compliance the returning officer will cancel the ballot paper of such persons.
It was also decided that all returning officers will have powers of full magistrate and they can suspend the electoral process by bringing such elements to ECP’s notice in case of irregularity.
Rangers or FC personnel will also be deputed outside the polling stations.
Media Coverage For Senate Elections Banned
The election commission has banned the media coverage of Senate election, which will be held on March 03 in all provinces.
The media release of election commission says that the media coverage of March 03 Senate polls has been banned and declared the parliament house as no-go-area for media.
After receiving ECP orders the National Assembly secretariat has become worried, while the parliamentary reporters association have also refused to accept ECP decision.
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The parliamentary reporters association informed to speaker National Assembly that the decision would not be accepted as no precedent exists in past, therefore speaker should demand to ECP for scraping its decision.
The parliamentary reporters association warned if the ban would not be lifted they would stage protest before the parliament on election day.
The process and Numbers
The Senate consists of a total of 104 members — 23 each from the four provinces, eight from FATA and four from Islamabad Capital Territory. The 23 seats of each province break down into 14 general seats, four each for women and technocrats and one for minorities.
While the total term for a senator is six years, half of the Senate retires after every three years.
The Senate elections depend on the party positions in the provincial assemblies as well as the National Assembly.
Four of the provincial assemblies vote for their representatives, whereas the FATA senators are elected by the MNAs from the tribal areas and the Islamabad senators by the National Assembly.
A person seeking election to the Senate should not be less than thirty years of age and should be registered as a voter in an area or province from where he or she seeks election and should meet other qualifications prescribed under Article 62 of the Constitution.
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