Pakistan
Newly-elected senators take oath
Islamabad: The newly elected 48 senators have taken oath which was administered by Presiding Officer (PO) Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah.
According to details, the upper house will elect its chairman and deputy chairman in the next phase.
The session started off with opposition blaming government of installing secret cameras in polling booth.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Raza Rabbani, claimed that hidden cameras were discovered from the premises of polling booth which is a complete violation of Article 226 of the Constitution.
The opposition demanded a probe to be carried out into who was in control of the upper house.
Following the protest, the presiding officer intervened and issued directives for changing the polling booth.
Opposition leaders claim to have found hidden camera
Earlier today, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar claimed to have found a hidden camera in polling booth.
Taking to twitter, Mustafa Nawaz shared a picture on twitter and wrote that he, along with Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Musadik Malik found spy cameras right over the polling booth.
Meanwhile, Musadiq Malik also tweeted saying they found another hidden device in polling booth.
On the other hand, Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said that the cameras were installed by opposition members.
“The candidates of government will win today. We have exposed the opposition,” he said.
The elections top posts of senate will be held today amid a controversy over sale and purchase of votes and allegations by opposition that their lawmakers were being pressurized to vote for government candidates.
The elections for the top slots are held through secret ballot and surveillance cameras are not allowed within the polling booth.
The government has nominated current Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani as his candidate while the opposition is supporting former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who deafeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)’s Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the recently-held Senate polls.
Gillani’s victory came as a blow for PTI, following which Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to take vote of confidence from the parliament. PM also accused opposition of vote selling and using money to influence the polls.
For the slot of Deputy Chairman, PDM has nominated Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, while government has nominated Mirza Muhammad Afridi, who hails from FATA.
A total of 48 senators have taken oath and replaced outgoing lawmakers.
Out of selected, two senators are from Islamabad, 12 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Punjab, 12 from Balochistan and 11 from Sindh.
Government’s alliance has 47, while opposition has support of 51 senators. Jamat-e-Islami, with one senator, has announced not to vote for any candidate.