PTI comfortably bags another Senate seat
Ruling party candidate gets more than expected votes, opposition to probe suspected turncoats
MPAs cast their secret ballots during the Senate by-polls in the K-P Assembly on Tuesday (above); MPA Sobia Khan comes out of the designated room after stamping her ballot. PHOTOS: AGENCIES
PESHAWAR:
The candidate of the ruling party easily won by-polls for the Senate on Tuesday. However, the election was far from controversial as he ended up with more votes than the total seats the party or its allies enjoy in the house, suggesting that some members of the opposition had voted for the winning candidate.
Zeeshan Khanzada, who was contesting the Senate by-polls on a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ticket, secured 104 votes. The opposition’s candidate, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Farzand Ali could only bag 31 votes from the 145-member house.
Voting for the by-polls began in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly early on Tuesday morning with K-P Election Commissioner Pir Maqbool Ahmad presiding over the proceedings.
The process became gloomy at the outset after the opposition Jamat-e-Islami (JI) — which is part of the provincial assembly under the coalition group the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) — announced boycott of the elections. As a result, its three MPAs abstained from voting in the elections.
This meant that the pool of voters shrunk to 142. The pool for opposition members also shrank but the opposition still hoped to land at least 39 votes.
Later, PPP’s Ahmed Kundi kicked off the polls by casting the first vote. Polling continued peacefully throughout the day and concluded with K-P Deputy Speaker Mehmood Jan casting the last vote of the day.
After a count, Ahmad declared the unofficial results. He said that of the 145 member house, only 139 members had cast their ballot. Those who did not cast their vote included PTI's Taj Muhammad Rand, Awami National Party (ANP’s) Faisal Zaib and Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) Faisal Zaman. All three lawmakers are currently abroad.
Ahmad further said that four votes were rejected because they were incorrectly stamped.
The unofficial results, the election officer said, stated that Khanzada had secured 104 votes while Ali could only muster 31 votes.
This meant that Ali had lost out on some eight votes from the opposition.
Khanzada, on the other hand, ended up with more than expected votes. Even with Rand abroad, Khanzada expected to secure 94 votes from the PTI. The party was expected to secure a vote from its coalition partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), two independent members Faisal Zaman and Ehtisham Akbar Khan and the three members of the BAP for a total of 100 votes.
However, the receipt of 104 votes meant that four opposition members had voted for him.
Commenting on the situation, the Deputy Opposition Leader Sardar Hussain Babak told The Express Tribune that the opposition parties will probe the matter. He vowed to identify those who stabbed the opposition parties in the back as they could not allow such members to be with them.
PPP leader Nighat Orakzai echoed Babak’s sentiments, stating that her party will take action against the four members who, she believed, had deliberately wasted their votes in a bid to increase Khanzada’s victory margin.
Orakzai also expressed her dismay over the boycott by JI members. She went on to urge opposition parties to investigate at the polls at the party level and determine who voted for the government.
K-P Senior Minister Atif Khan later told the media that victory of the PTI candidate will further improve the party's representation in the upper house of Parliament.
Felicitating Khanzada on his victory, Atif hoped he would carry forward the mission of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Khanzada said that Tuesday was a victory for the PTI and thanked the role of the provincial and central leadership of the party.
K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also felicitated the winning candidate, adding that it became possible due to the ruling party’s unassailable strength in the provincial assembly. He thanked coalition partners PML-Q and BAP for supporting their candidate.
The by-polls were held after former PPP provincial president Khanzada Khan had decided to quit the party and automatically relinquish his Senate seat. His son, Zeeshan, who had joined the PTI before his father’s resignation, was handed a ticket by the ruling party.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2019.
The candidate of the ruling party easily won by-polls for the Senate on Tuesday. However, the election was far from controversial as he ended up with more votes than the total seats the party or its allies enjoy in the house, suggesting that some members of the opposition had voted for the winning candidate.
Zeeshan Khanzada, who was contesting the Senate by-polls on a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ticket, secured 104 votes. The opposition’s candidate, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Farzand Ali could only bag 31 votes from the 145-member house.
Voting for the by-polls began in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly early on Tuesday morning with K-P Election Commissioner Pir Maqbool Ahmad presiding over the proceedings.
The process became gloomy at the outset after the opposition Jamat-e-Islami (JI) — which is part of the provincial assembly under the coalition group the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) — announced boycott of the elections. As a result, its three MPAs abstained from voting in the elections.
This meant that the pool of voters shrunk to 142. The pool for opposition members also shrank but the opposition still hoped to land at least 39 votes.
Later, PPP’s Ahmed Kundi kicked off the polls by casting the first vote. Polling continued peacefully throughout the day and concluded with K-P Deputy Speaker Mehmood Jan casting the last vote of the day.
After a count, Ahmad declared the unofficial results. He said that of the 145 member house, only 139 members had cast their ballot. Those who did not cast their vote included PTI's Taj Muhammad Rand, Awami National Party (ANP’s) Faisal Zaib and Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) Faisal Zaman. All three lawmakers are currently abroad.
Ahmad further said that four votes were rejected because they were incorrectly stamped.
The unofficial results, the election officer said, stated that Khanzada had secured 104 votes while Ali could only muster 31 votes.
This meant that Ali had lost out on some eight votes from the opposition.
Khanzada, on the other hand, ended up with more than expected votes. Even with Rand abroad, Khanzada expected to secure 94 votes from the PTI. The party was expected to secure a vote from its coalition partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), two independent members Faisal Zaman and Ehtisham Akbar Khan and the three members of the BAP for a total of 100 votes.
However, the receipt of 104 votes meant that four opposition members had voted for him.
Commenting on the situation, the Deputy Opposition Leader Sardar Hussain Babak told The Express Tribune that the opposition parties will probe the matter. He vowed to identify those who stabbed the opposition parties in the back as they could not allow such members to be with them.
PPP leader Nighat Orakzai echoed Babak’s sentiments, stating that her party will take action against the four members who, she believed, had deliberately wasted their votes in a bid to increase Khanzada’s victory margin.
Orakzai also expressed her dismay over the boycott by JI members. She went on to urge opposition parties to investigate at the polls at the party level and determine who voted for the government.
K-P Senior Minister Atif Khan later told the media that victory of the PTI candidate will further improve the party's representation in the upper house of Parliament.
Felicitating Khanzada on his victory, Atif hoped he would carry forward the mission of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Khanzada said that Tuesday was a victory for the PTI and thanked the role of the provincial and central leadership of the party.
K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also felicitated the winning candidate, adding that it became possible due to the ruling party’s unassailable strength in the provincial assembly. He thanked coalition partners PML-Q and BAP for supporting their candidate.
The by-polls were held after former PPP provincial president Khanzada Khan had decided to quit the party and automatically relinquish his Senate seat. His son, Zeeshan, who had joined the PTI before his father’s resignation, was handed a ticket by the ruling party.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2019.