Government backed Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Mohammad Afridi have won the election for Chairman and Deputy Cairman Senate against PDM backed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
Government secured major political victory with the win of Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Afridi for the top two Senate slots on Friday (today).
As per details, Sadiq Sanjrani secured 48 votes in contrast to Yousuf Raza Gilani’s 42 votes.At least seven votes that were casted in PDM’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani were ‘wasted’ due to technical reasons, resulting in Sadiq Sanjrani’s victory.
Sadiq Sanjrani – a senator from Balochistan, will be heading the upper house of the parliament for a second term.
Meanwhile, government backed Mirza Mohammad Afridi secured 54 votes as compared to 44 votes of JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri who PDM’s nominee for senate post and was backed by 11-party opposition alliance under the banner of PDM.
A total of 98 Senators voted in the election for Senate Chairman as Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan didn’t appear and abstained from the voting while PML-N’s Ishaq Dar also didn’t turn up for the election as he is in London.
Who is Sadiq Sanjrani?
Sanjrani began his political career in 1998 as coordinator of the team of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In 2008, he was appointed in-charge of the Prime Minister’s Yousaf Raza Gillani Grievance Cell at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat where he remained for five years.
Sanjrani was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as an independent candidate on general seat from Balochistan in 2018 Pakistani Senate election. He took oath as Senator on 12 March 2018. On the same day, he was elected as 8th Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. He received 57 votes out of total 103 votes cast and defeated Raja Zafar ul Haq, a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) who obtained 46 votes.
Sanjrani was voted into chairman position by the PPP, MQM-P, PTI and independent Senators from Balochistan and the FATA. He became the first ever Chairman of the Senate who hailed from province of Balochistan and became the youngest-ever Chairman of the Senate at the age of 39. He was relatively lesser known figure in Pakistan’s political spectrum prior to being elected as Chairman of the Senate.
In 2018, Sanjarani successfully survived a no-confidence motion by the Opposition. The no-confidence motion failed to pass because the opposition parties only gathered 50 votes, 3 votes short of the resolution passing.
Government, Opposition’s Candidates For Top Two Senate Slots
Government had nominated Sadiq Sanjrani and Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi for Chairman and Deputy Chairman Senate slot.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had fielded senior PPP leader and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for Chairman Senate, whereas JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri was opposition’s candidate for Deputy Chairman Senate.
Newly Elected Senators Take Oath
Senate session began with 48 newly elected senators taking oath as members of the upper house of the parliament at around 10:00 am on Friday (today).
Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah, nominated as presiding officer by President Arif Alvi, chaired the session and administered the oath to the members-elect.
These newly elected senators who took oath include;
Islamabad
- Yousuf Raza Gilani — PPP (General)
- Fozia Arshad — PTI (Women)
Sindh
- Palwasha Khan — PPP (Women)
- Saleem Mandviwalla — PPP (General)
- Sherry Rehman — PPP (General)
- Farook Naek — PPP (Technocrats)
- Saifullah Abro — PTI (Technocrats)
- Khalida Ateeb — MQM-P (Women)
- Jam Mahtab Dahar — PPP (General)
- Taj Haider — PPP (General)
- Faisal Vawda — PTI (General)
- Faisal Subzwari — MQM-P (General)
- Shahadat Awan — PPP (General)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
- Sania Nishtar — PTI (Women)
- Falak Naz — PTI (Women)
- Dost Muhammad Khan — PTI (Technocrats)
- Hamayun Mohmand — PTI (Technocrats)
- Gurdeep Singh — PTI (Minorities)
- Shibli Faraz — PTI (General)
- Mohsin Aziz — PTI (General)
- Liaquat Khan Tarakai — PTI (General)
- Faisal Saleem Rehman — PTI (General)
- Zeeshan Khanzada — PTI (General)
- Hidayatullah Khan — ANP (General)
- Attaur Rehman — JUI-F (General)
Balochistan
- Sarfaraz Bugti — BAP (General)
- Manzoor Ahmed — BAP (General)
- Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai — BAP (General)
- Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri — JUI-F (General)
- Muhammad Qasim — BNP (General)
- Abdul Qadir — Independent (General)
- Umer Farooq — ANP (General)
- Saeed Ahmed Hashmi — BAP (Technocrats)
- Kamran Murtaza — JUI-F (Technocrats)
- Naseema Ehsan — Independent (Women)
- Samina Mumtaz — BAP (Women)
- Danesh Kumar — BAP (Minorities)
Punjab
- Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q)
- Syed Ali Zafar (PTI)
- Dr Zarqa (PTI)
- Ijaz Chaudhry (PTI)
- Aun Abbas (PTI)
- Saifullah Sarwar Niazi (PTI)
- Azam Nazir Tarar (PML-N)
- Saadia Abbasi (PML-N)
- Sajid Mir (PML-N)
- Afnanullah Khan (PML-N)
- Irfan-ul-Haq Siddiqui (PML-N)
PPP, PML-N Allege Installation Of Secret Cameras Inside Polling Booth
Prior to the initiation of voting process, opposition members primarily PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokar and PML-N’s Musadik Malik alleged the presence of multiple ‘secret cameras’ installed inside and surrounding areas of the polling booth.
The two leaders took to social media and shared multiple ‘proofs’ of the alleged rigging attempt by the government.
What a freaking joke
The senate polling booth has secret /hidden cameras installed
SO MUCH FOR DEMOCRACY pic.twitter.com/S7OapMhZtn— Dr. Musadik Malik (@DrMusadikMalik) March 12, 2021
Another hidden device found in the polling booth. Bravo pic.twitter.com/ZGAO04RBMb
— Dr. Musadik Malik (@DrMusadikMalik) March 12, 2021
There’s absolutely no need for a screw on this… camera visible in the scew pic.twitter.com/WvkXXnNgRb
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) March 12, 2021
There you go brother @fawadchaudhry pic.twitter.com/rtQKPExbi5
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) March 12, 2021
Myself and Dr Musadik found spy cameras right over the polling booth!!!! pic.twitter.com/aqRGFRYFbq
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) March 12, 2021
Opposition has demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee comprising members of the government and opposition lawmakers. It has also demanded the election authorities to seize the cameras and surveillance data till the parliamentary committee concludes its probe.
Installing secret cameras during Senate polls was a violation of the Constitution’s Article 226 and the verdict of the Supreme Court (SC), argued the letter addressed to Presiding Officer by PDM.
Meanwhile, Secretary Senate Qasim Samad has announced to form a parliamentary committee to probe recovery of ‘spy cameras’ from the Senate.
Following the allegations, new polling booth was established for the election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman Senate.
News is developing, more to follow
