2021 Pakistani Senate election
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48 of the 100 seats in the Senate of Pakistan 51 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Pakistani Senate election was held on 3 March 2021. The Election commission of Pakistan announced the election schedule on 11 February 2021. 52 of the 104 Senators had retired on 7 February 2021.[1] After the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, FATA seats were abolished and there was no election on 4 of the 8 seats. The rest of the 4 seats will be abolished in 2024.[2] Official results of the Senate Elections were announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan on 10 March 2021.[3]
Background[edit]
2021 election was being conducted amidst an anti-government drive by a coalition of opposition parties, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The PDM leaders had earlier threatened to resign en masse from the provincial and national assemblies, and refused to take part in the Senate elections but later relented.[4][5]
In the lead up to the elections much of the debate surrounded the secrecy of ballot that is observed in the Senate elections, which has always led to allegations of vote trading.[6] The government moved a conditional presidential ordinance and later sought the opinion of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to conduct the elections via open ballot.[7][8] The Supreme Court, in its judgment, maintained that the elections should by held via secret ballot but their secrecy is not absolute and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should employ the latest technology to ensure "that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law and that corrupt practices are guarded against."[9] ECP, in response to the Court's directives, stated that this year's elections will be conducted as per past practice due to the dearth of time.[10]
A night before the election, a video emerged that showed Ali Haider Gillani, son of Yousaf Raza Gillani, lobbying for his father's election bid and showing three government lawmakers how to void their votes.[11] An audio recording also surfaced, with Nasir Hussain Shah giving assurances to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers who had allegedly sold their votes.[12]
Results[edit]
Overall, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) became the largest party in the Senate as it won the most seats, securing 18 of the 48 senate seats up for election; of which 10 came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 from Punjab, 2 from Sindh, and one from Islamabad. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came in second by winning 8 seats, of which 7 were won in Sindh and one in Islamabad. Balochistan Awami Party was declared victorious on 6 seats - all from Balochistan. Finally, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) lost its majority in the Senate as it could only manage 5 seats from Punjab against 16 retiring senators.[13]
After the results were declared, much of the focus was on the Islamabad General seat won by PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani where he beat PTI's incumbent finance minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, by a margin of 5 votes.[14] Although, Gillani was the opposition's joint candidate, he still did not have the required majority unless those on the treasury benches voted for him or intentionally voided their votes in the secret ballot. This fact, coupled with the leaked video of his son, led to PTI petitioning the Election Commission of Pakistan against his victory.[15]
Meanwhile, Gurdeep Singh of the PTI, became the first Sikh to be elected to the Senate of Pakistan as he won the minority seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[16]
Abdul Qadir, who had won as an Independent from Balochistan, later joined the PTI, increasing the tally of the party to 26 in the Senate.[17]
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| Parties | Votes | % | Seats | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in 2018 |
Up | Won | Total after |
+/- | ||||||||||
| G | W | T | M | Total | ||||||||||
| Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) | 12 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 25 | +13 | |||||
| Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) | 21 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 21 | – | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) | 29 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 18 | –11 | |||||
| Balochistan Awami Party | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 13 | +3 | |||||
| Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | +1 | |||||
| Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | –2 | |||||
| Awami National Party | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +1 | |||||
| National Party (NP) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –3 | |||||
| Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | –1 | |||||
| Jamaat-e-Islami | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | –1 | |||||
| Balochistan National Party | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (F) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | |||||
| Pakistan Muslim League (Q) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | |||||
| Independents | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | –5 | |||||
| Valid votes | ||||||||||||||
| Blank and invalid | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 100 | 104 | 52 | 29 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 48 | 100 | -4 | ||||
| Abstentions | ||||||||||||||
| Registered voters / Turnout | ||||||||||||||
Results by Administrative Unit[edit]
The successful candidates for each of the seats were declared on 10 March 2021.[22]
Provinces[edit]
| Punjab | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Type | Winners | ||||||
| General | Saifullah Niazi
(PTI) |
Aon Abbas Bappi
(PTI) |
Ejaz Chaudhary
(PTI) |
Afnan Ullah Khan
(PML-N) |
Sajid Mir
(PML-N) |
Irfan-ul-Haq Siddiqui
(PML-N) |
Kamil Ali Agha
(PML-Q) |
| Technocrat | Syed Ali Zafar (PTI) | Azam Nazeer Tarar (PML-N) | |||||
| Women | Zarqa Taimur (PTI) | Saadia Abbasi (PML-N) | |||||
| Sindh | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Type | Winners | ||||||
| General | Sherry Rehman
(PPP) |
Saleem Mandviwalla
(PPP) |
Ali Shah Jamote
(PPP) |
Taj Haider
(PPP) |
Shahadat Awan
(PPP) |
Faisal Vawda
(PTI) |
Faisal Subzwari
(MQM-P) |
| Technocrat | Farooq Naek (PPP) | Saifullah Abro (PTI) | |||||
| Women | Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan (PPP) | Khalida Ateeb (MQM-P) | |||||
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Type | Winners | ||||||
| General | Mohsin Aziz
(PTI) |
Liaqat Khan Tarakai
(PTI) |
Shibli Faraz
(PTI) |
Faisal Saleem Rahman
(PTI) |
Zeeshan Khanzada
(PTI) |
Hidayat Ullah Khan
ANP |
Atta-ur-Rehman
(JUI-F) |
| Technocrat | Dost Muhammad Khan (PTI) | Muhammad Hamayun Mohmand (PTI) | |||||
| Women | Sania Nishtar (PTI) | Falak Naz (PTI) | |||||
| Minority | Gurdeep Singh (PTI) | ||||||
| Balochistan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Type | Winners | ||||||
| General | Mohammad Abdul Qadir
(Independent) |
Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai
(BAP) |
Sarfraz Bugti
(BAP) |
Manzoor Ahmed Kakar
(BAP) |
Umer Farooq
(ANP) |
Abdul Ghafoor Haideri
(JUI-F) |
Muhammad Qasim
(NP) |
| Technocrat | Saeed Ahmed Hashmi (BAP) | Kamran Murtaza (JUI-F) | |||||
| Women | Samina Mumtaz Zehri (BAP) | Naseema Ehsan (Independent) | |||||
| Minority | Danesh Kumar (BAP) | ||||||
Federally Administered Unit[edit]
| ICT | |
|---|---|
| Seat Type | Winners |
| General | Yousaf Raza Gillani
(PPP) |
| Women | Fawzia Arshad
(PTI) |
Election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman[edit]
Two candidates apiece, from the opposition and treasury benches, contested the elections on 12 March 2021. Treasury candidates, Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Muhammad Afridi, won the elections for their respective seats.[23]
| Candidate | Contesting for | Party | Votes Obtained | Supported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadiq Sanjrani | Chairmanship | BAP | 48 
|
Treasury Benches |
| Mirza Muhammad Afridi | Deputy Chairmanship | PTI | 54
| |
| Yousaf Raza Gillani | Chairmanship | PPP | 42 
|
Opposition Benches |
| Abdul Ghafoor Haideri | Deputy Chairmanship | JUI-F | 44
|
References[edit]
- ^ "Why Sanjrani should quit?". www.thenews.com.pk. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
- ^ FATA: abolished and merged
- ^ Pakistan, Election Commission of (2021-03-10). "2021 Senate Election Official Notification" (PDF). Election Commission of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- ^ "PDM's confusion over resignations persists". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (2021-02-11). "PDM lauded for taking part in Senate polls". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "Senate election: Defence minister warns opposition against horse-trading". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "President Alvi signs off on ordinance to hold Senate polls through open vote". DAWN.COM. 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "Govt to move Supreme Court over Senate polls this week". The Express Tribune. 2020-12-21. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ Bhatti, Haseeb (2021-03-01). "SC says Senate elections to be held through secret ballot under Article 226 of Constitution". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ Chaudhry, Fahad (2021-03-02). "Senate elections on March 3 to be held as per past practice: ECP". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ Qureshi, Raiq (2021-03-02). "ECP should disqualify Gillani after his son's video leak: Fawad". Associated Press Of Pakistan. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "Leaked audio reveals Nasir Shah giving assurance to 'sold' PTI lawmakers". ARY NEWS. 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ^ "PTI makes substantial gains in Senate but suffers major setback in lslamabad". DAWN.COM. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ "Yousaf Raza Gillani beats PTI's Hafeez Shaikh in Senate race". Pakistan Observer. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ "PTI approach ECP to stop Gilani's Senate victory notification". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ Jamal, Sana. "PTI's Gurdeep Singh makes history by becoming first Sikh to win elections in Pakistan Senate". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ "Senator-elect Abdul Qadir joins PTI, reposes confidence in PM Imran Khan". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ "PTI makes substantial gains in Senate but suffers major setback in lslamabad". DAWN.com. 2021-03-04. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
- ^ "Senate Election 2021: PTI emerges as largest party, but victory bittersweet". Geo News. 2021-03-03. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
- ^ Pakistan, Election Commission of. "Senate Elections 2021". Election Commission of Pakistan. Archived from the original on 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
- ^ Pakistan, Election Commission of (2021-03-11). "2021 Senate Election Official notification" (PDF). Election Commission of Pakistan. Election Commission of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
- ^ "Notification of Returned Candidates" (PDF). Election Commission of Pakistan. 10 March 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Guramani, Nadir (2021-03-12). "Defying numbers, PTI-backed candidates win coveted Senate chairman and deputy slots". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-03-13.