ISLAMABAD: The polling process for the by-elections on 6 seats of the Senate has been completed and now the counting of votes is going on.
Elections are being held on one seat in Islamabad, 2 seats in Sindh and 3 seats in Balochistan. A total of 301 MLAs cast their votes in the National Assembly.
A total of 124 votes were cast for two Senate seats in the Sindh Assembly, out of which 123 votes were declared valid. Both the candidates of People’s Party won the field. Aslam Abro and Saifullah Dharijo were successful. Saifullah Dharijo got 58 votes and Aslam Abru got 57 votes.
In the Balochistan Assembly, 61 votes were cast out of the 65-member house.
According to sources, MQM has decided not to participate in the by-elections and MQM members will not vote in the Senate elections. Jamaat-e-Islami has also boycotted.
The seats have become vacant due to the resignation of 6 senators. Yousuf Raza Geelani, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari, Nisar Khoro, Jam Mehtab, Prince Ahmad Umar and Sarfraz Bagti have resigned from the Senate.
The contest in the National Assembly is between Ilyas Mehrban of the Sunni Ittehad Council and Yusuf Raza Gilani of the People’s Party. PPP’s Jam Saifullah Dharijo and Muhammad Aslam Abro are competing against Sunni Ittehad Council’s Nazirullah and Shazia Sohail on the Sindh seats.
9 candidates are contesting on three seats of Balochistan. People’s Party has issued tickets to Abdul Qudous Bizenjo, Tariq Hussain Bugti and Shakeel Durrani. PML-N has fielded Mir Dostin Domki, JUI has fielded Abdul Shakur Ghabizai, Balochistan Awami Party has fielded Mubeen Khalji and Kahida Babar. Independent candidates Hirbyar Domki and Syed Mehmood Shah are also trying their luck.
