ISLAMABAD: The Senate election is likely to be postponed due to an incomplete electoral college for the upper house election.
The National Assembly and four provincial assemblies serve as the electoral college for the Senate.
Sources indicate that a month-long schedule is required for conducting the Senate elections. These elections will commence after the completion of the National Assembly and the four provincial legislatures.
It is noteworthy that the terms of half of the incumbent senators will expire by March 11, while the elections were anticipated to take place in the first week of that month.
Parliamentary sources suggest that the Senate elections might be deferred until the third week of March. “Current senators will continue their membership in the house until the new senators are elected,” sources elaborated.
Initial expectations were that the schedule for the Senate election would be announced immediately after the general elections.
A total of 50 senate members are expected to retire by March 11, and the total strength of the senate will decrease to 96 after the cancellation of four seats from FATA due to the region’s merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Consequently, elections will be conducted to fill the 48 vacant seats in the Senate.
Meanwhile, responding to instances of electoral malpractice and disruptions in the recent general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered a repoll in various constituencies nationwide. The affected areas include National Assembly constituency NA-88 Khushab, Sindh Assembly constituency PS-18 Ghotki, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s PK-90 Kohat. Additionally, NA-253 Harnai-cum-Sibbi-cum-Kohlu-cum-Dera Bugti and Balochistan’s PB-09 Kohlu are scheduled for a re-poll tomorrow.
Commencing at 8 am in NA-88 Khushab, voters from 26 polling stations have the opportunity to cast their ballots until 5 pm. The decision for repolling followed an unfortunate incident on February 8, where miscreants maliciously set a ballot box and records on fire in the RO office.
IPP’s Gul Asghar Khan is contesting against independent candidate Ikram Niazi in this constituency, which has been declared a red zone by the DPO, necessitating heavy police and army deployment and declaring a local holiday.
In PS-18 Obaro of Ghotki, repolling is underway at two polling stations, 161 and 162, due to ballot box theft during polling on February 8. Independent candidate Jam Mehtab Dahar leads with 56,285 votes, closely followed by PPP candidate Shahryar Khan Shar with 54,705 votes. Despite the setback, citizens are actively participating in the electoral process, with around 300 police personnel ensuring security.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohat district, polling is ongoing in 25 stations of the PK-90 constituency. Independent candidate Aftab Alam competes against PPP’s Amjad Afridi in a tense atmosphere following vandalism and arson attacks on polling stations in Dara Adam Khel on February 8.
