Polling for 52 Senate seats underway in assemblies

The polling for 52 Senate seats is underway in the national and provincial assemblies, as 133 candidates contest to grab a seat in the Upper House of Parliament.

The elections began at 9 am today (Saturday) and will continue nonstop till 4 pm. As the polling commenced, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah were some of the firsts to cast their votes, local media reported.

A total of 33 candidates are contesting on 12 seats from Sindh, 20 candidates are contesting 12 seats from Punjab, 25 on 11 seats from Balochistan, 26 on 11 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five on two seats from Islamabad and  24 on four seats from FATA.

ECP finalized arrangements for polling of Senate elections in KP

Rangers and other security personnel have been deployed outside the provincial assemblies and Parliament. Media personnel are not allowed to enter provincial assemblies while as per the code of conduct, anyone entering the assembly premises is not allowed to carry with them cellphones or any other electronic devices.

The Senate, which is the Upper House of Parliament, has a total of 104 lawmakers who are elected in two groups of 52 lawmakers after every three years. Each lawmaker serves a term of six years.

Fifty two senators who were elected in 2012 will retire this year. Where as the other 52 lawmakers, who were elected in 2015, will retire in 2021.