Top parties to dominate Senate again but with different ‘numbers’

With the much-awaited Senate elections only two days away, the lawmakers are all set to elect 48 new senators with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is likely to emerge as the largest party in the Senate, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

Half of the present Senate’s members will complete their six-year term on March 11, leaving 48 seats up for grabs. As the Upper House at the moment has a total of 104 members – half of whom retire every three years – the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa means the four seats reserved for the former will retire with the senators who hold them.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf

A glance at the numbers-game suggests that the PTI may succeed in winning 20 seats in the Upper House of the Parliament. At the moment, the number of PTI senators is 15, seven of which will stand retired on March 11.

And if the things sail through calmly as expected, the PTI’s strength in Senate will snowballed to 28 after winning the projected 20 seats in the Senate elections due to be held on March 3.

Pakistan People’s Party

The chances for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to become the second-largest party in the Senate are bright as it is expected to retain its strength of 19 members.

With projected 19 seats, the PPP is expected to win as many seats as its number of senators are retiring which is seven.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

The former ruling party – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – will suffer the most in Senate’s numbers-game.

The PML-N which at the moment is the largest party in the Upper House of the Parliament with 28 senators in the pocket is projected to stand at third position after the PTI and the PPP.

The PML-N’s strength, 28, is likely to be cut to 18 as its 15 members will stand retired on March 11 leaving behind 13 lawmakers. As per the unofficial Senate elections from Punjab, the PML-N has got elected five senators from the province taking its tally to 18.

As the chances for the party to win more seats from anywhere are very dim, it will likely to stand at third position.

Balochistan Awami Party

Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) is set to become the fourth-largest party in the Upper House of the Parliament with the projected strength of 12 senators.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) is expected to win two or three Senate seats from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With the recent split in the party in mind, it may be in with an unexpected result.

Fifty-two senators will stand retired on March 11: 33 of them from general seats, eight technocrats, nine on women seats and two on minority seats.

The national and provincial assemblies will be holding polling for Senate elections 2021 on March 3, as per the schedule released by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

According to the ECP schedule, polling will be held between 9am to 5pm.