PM nominates Mirza Afridi for Senate deputy chairman slot

Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated on Thursday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member from former FATA Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi as the candidate for the post of Senate deputy chairman.

The nomination was revealed by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Twitter, a day ahead of the polls for the posts of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

Afridi has been nominated against Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, the joint candidate of the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Read: PDM names Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for Senate deputy chairman slot

Last week, PM Imran had announced Sadiq Sanjrani as the candidate for chairman Senate.

The elections for the posts will be held on March 12 (tomorrow) after the completion of the incumbent's - Sadiq Sanjrani- tenure of three years.

Announcement for Sanjrani's nomination came a day after the hotly contested Senate elections in which Yousaf Raza Gilani, the joint candidate of opposition parties, was elected Senator from Islamabad, by defeating Abdul Hafeez Shaikh of the ruling party.

Gilani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 ballots. Seven votes were rejected.

Read more: PTI fails to stop Gilani’s Senate victory

The PTI won 18 seats, taking its total Senate seats to 25, followed by the PPP with eight seats. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) won 6; the PML-N bagged five and the JUI-F 3. The MQM-P and the ANP won two seats each, while the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and the PML-Quaid-e-Azam got 1 seat each. Two independents were also elected.