By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gillani has been elected to the general seat and PTI’s Fawzia Arshad to the women’s seat in Islamabad.
The Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday notified the victory of newly elected senators to the Upper House of the parliament following the March 3 Senate polls.
“In pursuance of Section 124 of the Elections Act, 2017, and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Election Commission hereby publishes the names of the following candidates returned to the Senate of Pakistan in place of the Members whose terms will expire on 11th March, 2021 under clause (3) of Article 59 of the Constitution,” read the separate notifications, which then went on to list candidates that had won across the various seat categories in Islamabad, as well as in each of the four provinces.
In all, 48 senators have been elected to replace outgoing lawmakers.
Islamabad: From Islamabad, two senators were elected PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gillani to the general seat and PTI’s Fawzia’s Arshad to the women’s seat.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 senators were notified seven senators were appointed to general seats, two to technocrat seats including ulema, two to seats for women and one to the seat reserved for Non-Muslims.
Punjab: From Punjab, 11 senators were inducted to the upper house seven to general seats, two to technocrat seats including ulema, and two to women seats.
Balochistan: From Balochistan, 12 senators have been notified seven to general seats, two to technocrats including ulema, two to women seats and one to a seat reserved for Non-Muslims.
Sindh: From Sindh, 11 senators have officially been notified seven to general seats, two to technocrats including ulema, and two to women seats.
Meanwhile, ECP rejected a plea seeking to stop the electoral body from issuing the notification regarding PTI’s Faisal Vawda’s victory in the recently held Senate polls.
The decision was taken in a hearing of the commission, headed by its member from Punjab, Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi.
Vawda, who appeared in person in the hearing along with his new counsel, was asked by the ECP to appear again and submit his answers to the commission in the next hearing. During Wednesday’s hearing, Vawda told the ECP that he was unable to appear last time because his mother was unwell. He had brought a medical certificate to back this, he told the body.
When Vawda’s lawyer asked for time to prepare for the case, the petitioner, Jahangir Khan Jadoon, contended that Vawda himself was present to answer the questions raised.
“Faisal Vawda lied about his dual nationality,” he argued. The ECP’s Punjab member pointed out that several columns were left empty in Vawda’s nomination papers for the National Assembly in 2018.
“Faisal Vawda is not a common man [but] a lawmaker,” he added.
Jadoon said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had declared Vawda’s affidavit regarding his nationality as “false”, adding that it was the responsibility of the commission to stop a “dishonest man” from becoming a part of the Parliament.
IHC dismissed petition: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by PTI’s Ali Awan challenging the Senate victory of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
During yesterday’s proceedings, the court also rejected a plea to disqualifying the former premier’s son, MPA Ali Haider Gilani.
Earlier this week, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) formally nominated Gilani as its candidate for the office of the Senate chairman.
Gilani caused a major upset by defeating Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the March 3 Senate poll on a general seat from Islamabad.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah announced the verdict after listening to the arguments. During the hearing, the PTI MNA told the court that the party wished to bring transparency to the electoral process.
