ISLAMABAD: Members of the national and provincial assemblies will elect 48 senators on Thursday to replace members of the upper house of parliament retiring on March 11, with indications that the ruling PML-N and the main opposition PPP will secure almost equal representation in the Senate.

The number of seats each of the two parties is expected to win is 25, but any behind-the-scene move can bolster the position of one of the parties to enable it to clinch the offices of chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate.

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Analysts believe that the victory of two independents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — Waqar Ahmad Khan and his brother Ammar Ahmad Khan – would make the PPP the single largest party because their loyalty to the party is an open secret.

There are 132 candidates in the run for 48 seats. Four candidates from Sindh have already been elected unopposed.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 84 candidates will contest for 33 general seats from the provinces, Federally Adminis­tered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital, 22 for eight seats reserved for women from the provinces and the Federal Capital and 18 for eight seats reserved for technocrats, including Ulema. Eight candidates will contest for two seats reserved for minorities — one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

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From the Federal Capital, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Ashraf Gujjar, Raja Imran Ashraf and Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah will vie for one general seat, while Raheela Magsi, Nargis Nasir, Mrs Bisma Asif, Mrs Shumaila Shahab, Ms Nargis Faiz Malik will contest for one seat reserved for women.

From Punjab, Chaudhry Tanvir Khan, Mushahidullah Khan, Lt Gen Abdul Qay­yum, Pervaiz Rashid, Ghous Moha­m­­mad Khan Niazi, Nehal Hashmi, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Khawaja Mahmood Ahmed, Saleem Zia and Saud Majeed will contest for seven general seats, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Najma Ham­e­­ed and Sarwat Malik for two seats reserved for women and Raja Zafarul Haq, Prof Sajid Mir and Malik Nosher Khan Langrial for two seats reserved for technocrats / ulema.

From Sindh, Islamuddin Sheikh, Imamuddin Shou­qeen, Khushbakht Shujaat, Saleem Mandviwala, Abdul Rehman Malik, Abdul Latif Ansari, Gianchand and Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh will vie for seven general seats. Sassui Palijo and Nighat Mirza on two seats reserved for women and Farooq H. Naek and Mohammad Ali Saif on two seats reserved for technocrats have been elected unopposed.

From KP, Haji Mohammad Adeel, Khanzada Khan, Sirajul Haq, Syed Shibli Faraz, Attaur Rehman, Ammar Ahmed Khan, Liaqat Khan Tarakai, Lt Gen Salahuddin Tirmzi, Mohsin Aziz, Manzoor Khan, Noor Alam Khan and Waqar Ahmed Khan will contest for seven general seats, Samina Abid, Sitara Ayaz, Shazia Tehmas Khan, Shafia Amjad, Shaheen and Fauzia Fakhar uz Zaman Khan for two seats reserved for women, Afrasiab Khattak, Abdul Malik, Mohammad Javed Abbasi, Mohammad Hamayun Khan, Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Nauman Wazir for two seats reserved for technocrats / ulema, and James Iqbal, John Kenneth Williams and Amar Jeet for one seat reserved for minorities.

From Balochistan, Ahmed Khan, Amir Afzal Khan Mandokhel, Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Azam Khan, Yaqoob Khan Nasir, Aslam Buledi, Mohammad Usman, Yaseen Baloch, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Kabir Ahmed, Mohammad Yousaf Badini and Mir Niamatullah Zehri will contest for seven general seats, Kalsoom Perveen, Sana Jamali, Nasreen Rehman Khetran, Tahira Khursheed, Gul Bashra and Rabia Yasmeen for seats reserved for women, Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani, Engineer Basant Lal Gulshan, Abdul Manaf Tareen, Mohammad Yaseen Baloch, Mukhtar Ahmed Chhalgari, Malik Sikandar Khan and Mir Kabir Ahmed for two seats reserved for technocrats / ulema, and Engineer Basant Lal Gulshan, Danesh Kumar, Dr Ashok Kumar, Roshan Khursheed Bharucha and Heman Das for one seat reserved for minorities.

From Fata, 36 candidates will contest for four seats.

An ECP official told Dawn that polling arrangement had been completed. The polling would be held from 9am to 4pm. The provincial assemblies had been declared polling stations for the respective provinces and the National Assembly for four senators from Fata and two from Islamabad, he added.

After receiving the ballot paper, the voter would proceed to the polling booth to record his vote by putting the figure 1 or 2, 3 and 4 opposite to the name of the candidate in the order of his preference. The returning officers had been asked to satisfy themselves about the voter’s identity and for that purpose they might see his / her identity card.

The voters have been instructed to put a tick mark against his name on the list of voters and enter his name on the counterfoil of the ballot paper. They have been advised to mention their preferences in digits either in Urdu or English, but not in words.

The vote will be rejected if the digit is not mentioned in the column of preferences, or it is placed opposite the names of more than two candidates or is written in a manner that it becomes difficult to determine if it is meant for which candidate.

He said for general seats the colour of ballot papers would be white, for seats reserved for women it would be pink, for technocrats / ulema green and for seats reserved for non-Muslims it would be yellow.

The PML-N is expected to make a clean sweep in Punjab by winning all 11 seats, because of its clear majority in the provincial assembly. The party is also likely to win both seats from Islamabad, including the one reserved for women.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is set to make history by getting representation in the Senate for the first time. The Jamaat-i-Islami, which had lost representation in the upper house in 2012 after it boycotted the 2008 general elections, is expected to make a comeback.

The senate comprises 104 members — 23 each from the four provinces, eight from Fata and four from Islamabad. The seats allocated to a province comprise 14 general seats, four reserved for women, four for technocrats and one for a minority member.

Published in Dawn March 5th , 2015

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