Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: As the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the 18 seats in Senate elections 2021 on Wednesday after having suffered a major setback in Islamabad, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) backed candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani pulled off a surprise win on National Assembly seat. The PTI–backed candidates won 10 out of total 12 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), five from Punjab and two from Sindh, and one Senate seat from Islamabad. As per unofficial results, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), which is an ally of ruling PTI won six Senate seats. Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) secured two Senate seats from Sindh Assembly.
In a major upset, former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani emerged victorious against the ruling party’s Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Islamabad seats in National Assembly. Gilani bagged 169 votes, while his opponent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI’s) Hafeez Sheikh got 164 NA votes. According to ECP, seven votes were rejected in a one-on-one contest between PDM and PTI on the general seat of the National Assembly. While, on the woman seat from Islamabad, PTI’s Fauzia Arshad secured 174 votes, while opposition alliance candidate Farzana Kausar got 164 votes.
According to unofficial results, in Balochistan, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Sarfraz Bugti and Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai of Balochistan Awami Party, Muhammad Qasim of Balochistan National Party, Moulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) Umer Farooq of Awami National Party, Muhammad Abdul Qadir Independent on General Seats have been declared winner. Likewise, Saeed Ahmed Hashmi of Balochistan Awami Party and Kamran Murtaza of JUI (F) have won on Technocrats/Ulema seats.
General seats
• Abdul Qadir Independent (general seat)
• Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri–JUI-F (general seat)
• Muhammad Qasim–BNP (general seat)
• Sarfaraz Bugti–BAP (general seat)
• Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai–BAP
(general seat)
• Arbab Muhammad Umar Farooq–ANP (general seat)
• Manzoor Ahmed Kakar–BAP (general seat)
Technocrat seats
• Saeed Hashmi–BAP (technocrat seat)
• Kamran Murtaza _JUI-F (technocrat seat)
Women seats
• Samina Mumtaz–BAP (women seat)
• Nasima Ahsan–Indp (women seat)
Minority seat
• Danesh Kumar–BAP (minority seat)
ANP’s Arbab Muhammad Umar Farooq, and BAP’s Ahmed Kakar, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti and Price Ahmed Umar Ahmed were the candidates supported by the government on general seat. In the Sindh Assembly, 167 out of 168 members cast their votes as Jamaat-e-Islami member Abdul Rashid did not cast his vote. MQM’s candidate for a women’s seat Khalida Ateeb won with 57 votes, while PPP’s Palwasha Khan also won with 60 votes.
General seats
• Saleem Mandviwala–PPP (general seat)
• Sherry Rehman–PPP (general seat)
• Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar–PPP (general seat)
• Taj Haider–PPP (general seat)
• Shahadat Awan–PPP (general seat)
• Faisal Vawda–PTI (general seat)
• Faisal Sabzwari–MQM-Pakistan (general seat)
Women seats
• Palwasha Khan–PPP (women seat)
• Khalida Ateeb–MQM-P (women seat)
Technocrat seats
• Farooq H. Naik–PPP (technocrat seat)
• Saifullah Abro–PTI (technocrat seat)
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won a total of seven senate seats from Sindh Assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) two seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also managed to get two Senate seats. Gurdeep Singh of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf has won the minority seat of Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by securing 103 votes. His rival Ranjeet Singh of JUI(F) secured 25 votes. On women’s seats, Sania Nishtar and Falak Naz of PTI won both their women seats of Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
General seats
• Shibli Faraz–PTI (general seat)
• Liaquat Turkai–PTI (general seat)
• Mohsin Aziz–PTI (general seat)
• Faisal Saleem–PTI (general seat)
• Taj Afridi–BAP (general seat)
• Hidayat Ullah–ANP (general seat)
Women seats
• Falak Naz–PTI (women seat)
• Sania Nishtar–PTI (women seat)
Technocrat seats
• Dost Muhammad–PTI (technocrat seat)
• Dr Muhammad Humaiyun–PTI (technocrat seat)
Minority seat
• Gurdeep Singh – PTI (minority seat)
These all results are unofficial as the final announcement will be made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Earlier, Returning Officer (RO) issued directives to the lawmakers to cast vote for the candidates using digits on the ballot papers. The ballot paper will be considered as rejected one if a lawmaker writes in double digits. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) barred all including voters, candidates and polling agents to carry mobile phones or camera in the Parliament House, whereas, the NA lawmakers will have to show the card issued from the assembly for getting ballot papers.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) barred all including voters, candidates and polling agents to carry mobile phones or camera in the Parliament House, whereas, the NA lawmakers will have to show the card issued from the assembly for getting ballot papers.
There are a total of 72 candidates contesting the 2021 Senate polls from the federal capital and the three provinces.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Wednesday accused the opposition of horse-trading amid the Senate elections.
Talking about the Senate election results, Shibli Faraz said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had been expressing concerns about the use of money in the elections. The prime minister’s fears proved true today, he added. The minister termed the leadership of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) “traders of conscience.”
PM Imran Khan believed in democracy, he said, adding that the country, under the leadership of PM Khan, will move forward on to the path to progress and prosperity. Criticizing the opposition, Shibli Faraz said that they brought the country on the verge of economic disaster. He said that they promoted corruption, paralyzed state institutions and purchased properties abroad in their tenure. The minister said that the government is committed to eliminate corruption from the country.Earlier today, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr. Shahbaz Gill had said that they would challenge the victory of the joint candidate of the PDM in Senate elections from Islamabad seat, Yousuf Raza Gilani.
“Unconfirmed reports said that seven votes have been rejected as the victory was announced with a difference of five votes,” he had said in a message posted on micro-blogging site, Twitter. He had said in a separate Tweet that PTI’s Fauzia Arshad had succeeded with a majority of seven votes, which proved that some people had sold out their vote on the ballot paper.
