Islamabad (March 12, 2018): The President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday summoned the session of the Senate for oath of the newly elected members and the election of the chairman and deputy chairman of the upper house of the Parliament.
The session which was adjourned early in the morning after the oath from the newly elected members resumed at 4:00 PM for the election on the slots of chairman and deputy chairman of the upper house.
Live Updates:
7:30: Soon after elected as deputy chairman senate, Saleem Mandiwalla has taken oath for his new position.
7:25: The PPP’s candidate Saleem Mandviwalla has been elected as the new deputy chairman senate with 54 votes, whereas, PML-N and Allies candidate Usman Kakar secured 44 votes in total of 98 votes.
7:15 PM: The polling process for the election of the Deputy Chairman Senate has been concluded as polling underway.
6:10 PM: After the chairman is elected, the proceedings for election of the deputy chairman of the upper house gets underway.
6:10 PM: The Newly elected chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has taken oath of his slot.
6:00PM: The Independent candidate Sadiq Sanjrani backed by the joint opposition including PPP, MQM, PTI and other independent senators has been elected as Chairman Senate on Monday in a very close contest.
5:45 PM: The Counting for the chairman Senate is underway as 103 Senators have caste their votes.
5:45 PM: The polling process for the senate chairman has been completed as the counting underway.
4:20 PM: The voting process for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman polls began with Hafiz Abdul Karim casting first vote. JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Senator Abdul Qayyum cast second and third vote respectively.
4:15 PM: The second phase of the senate session began with the presiding officer Sardar Yaqoob Khan in the chair to elect top slots of the upper house of the parliament.
The presiding officer announced the names of the candidates participating in the chairman deputy chairman polls.
4:10 PM: Members of the Senate including former Senate chairman Raza Rabani start arriving for second phase of the Senate session to be resumed for election of the chairman and deputy chairman slots.
3:45 PM: The Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat Ulemai-i-Islam-Fazl have announced their support for the PML-N announced panel for the chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate. The announcement came after the PPPP approached different political parties to ensure backing of their candidates for the chairman, deputy chairman slot.
2:05 PM: The scrutiny process for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman candidates is competed and the papers of candidates fielded both from the opposition and treasury sides are cleared.
The polling process would be held at 4:00 PM.
The treasury side had fielded PML-N Senator Raja Zafarul Haq for chairman senate slot while PkMAP Senator Usman Kakar for the deputy chairman slot.
The opposition sides had announced support for the independent candidate from Balochistan Sadiq Sanjrani for chairman slot and PPP’s Saleem Mandviwalla for deputy chairman slot.
1:00 PM: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday announced its support for the Independent candidate from Balochistan Sadiq Sanjrani for the Senate Chairman elections.
The announcement was made by the MQM-P Bahadurabad Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui after a meeting with the Balochistan Chief Minister Bizenjo.
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that they were lending their support to Sanjrani as he belongs to a small province.
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“We believe in ensuring rights for the people of the small provinces including Balochistan as they are deprived of their rights,” he said adding that their support has nothing to do with PPP.
Bizenjo thanked the MQM-P for their support and said that they had promised their support for the senate chairman candidate from Balochistan.
12:05 AM: The nomination papers for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman candidate from PML-N were submitted in the Senate secretariat on Monday.
The forms were submitted by the PML-N leader Pervez Rasheed.
11:40 AM: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz on Monday nominated Raja Zafarul Haq as the joint nominee of the PML-N and allies for the post of chairman Senate.
Announcing the nominations, Senator Mushahid Ullah said that the party had also nominated Senator Usman Kakar of the Paktunkhua Milli Awami Party as the nominee for the deputy chairman post.
Mushahidullah said that certain people are eying to capture the house through their money. He said that PPPP President Asif Zardari had brought a stain to the PPP politics through such acts.
He said that they had the support of JI and ANP while MQM-P had not yet announced any support for them.
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He said that today the democratic and non-democratic forces are on separate sides and Raja Zafar ul Haq is the one who refused the prime minister ship in Musharraf tenure.
11:30 AM: The opposition parties candidate in Senate for chairman-Sadiq Sanjrani- and Deputy chairman senate-Saleem Mandviwalla on Monday submitted their nomination papers for the slots.
PPP leader Senator Sherry Rehman also accompanied the candidates.
Talking to media after submitting his candidature, Sanjrani said that a tough fight was expected between the government and opposition parties over chairman and deputy chairman senate polls but hopedthat he would be elected with a majority vote.
Sanjrani claimed that he has the support of more than 70 senators.
He said that Pakistan comes first and he would lead the other parties also on this moto.
11:00 AM: The Senate Session is adjourned and would meet again at 4:00 PM today for the election of chairman and deputy chairman.
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10:50 AM: When the name of former Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani was called during the Senate session, the senators applauded him by beating their desks. Later Rabbani met with the senators.
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10:25 AM: 51 Newly elect Senators take oath of the Senate while Ishaq Dar did not appear due to being abroad. The oath was administered by the presiding officer Yaqoob Nasir. Senators were then invited to sign the member rolls.
10:16 AM: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Leader Mushahid Ullah has acquired his nomination papers for the Senate Chairman post.
According to sources, Nawaz Sharif had directed him to acquire the papers. The PML-N leader after submitting thepapers reached the Munir House to participate in the final consultations of the party for the chairman Senate post.
Mushahid Ullah had confirmed and said that he was asked by the party to acquire the papers for the Senate chairman post.
10:13 AM: The ruling party’s Pir Sabir Shah, Mushahid Hussain Syed and PPP’s Raza Rabbani also reach the house.
10:10 AM: PPP and PTI backed candidate for Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani reaches the Senate while PPP newly elected Senator Krishna Kholi also arrives at the upper house.
9:50 AM: The newly elected senators start arriving at the to attend the session.
Schedule of Senate Today
The newly-elected senators will sworn in at 10 am as per the schedule issued from the Senate secretariat.
Nomination papers for Senate chairman and deputy chairman will then be submitted in the Senate Secretariat at noon.
The nomination papers will be reviewed at 2 pm after which another session will be summoned at 4pm the same day, when the chairman and deputy chairman will be elected.
Following the election, the Senate chairman will take oath, and will then swear in his deputy. After the oath-taking, the session will be adjourned until further notice.
