Polling for Senate chairman, deputy ends

  • PTI has fielded Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Muhammad Afridi, while the joint opposition has nominated Yousaf Raza Gillani and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for post of Senate chairman, deputy.
  • Haideri was the first one to cast his vote.
Updated 12 Mar, 2021

The session for the election of the Senate chairman and the deputy which began on Friday ended.

The government's candidate for Senate chairman Muha­mmad Sadiq Sanjrani and Senator Mirza Moha­m­mad Afridi for Senate deputy chairman will be in a poll fight with the Pakistan Democratic Movement's candidate former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Maulana Abdul Gha­foor Haideri.

An officer of the Senate is reading out names of senators in alphabetical order, who are collecting ballot papers from officials and casting their votes at the polling booth. PDM's candidate Haideri was the first one to cast his vote. The voting will end at 5pm. After the senate chairman has been elected, he will then conduct the election for the deputy chairman.

Earlier, newly elected members of the Senate took oath. Senator Sayed Muzafar Hussain Shah, nominated as the presiding officer, administered the oath to the members-elect. Following their oath, the new Senators signed the roll of members.

As soon as the session began, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Raza Rabbani, claimed that secret cameras had been installed at the polling booth. As the opposition started protesting, chanting 'shame, shame', the presiding officer issue directives for changing the polling booth.

PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar also took to Twitter and shared a picture of a camera installed at the polling booth. "Appears more like a CCTV cable, spy cameras are far more sophisticated Seceratay Senate should look into this claim,"Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted in reply.

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