Senate election: Unseated PML-F candidate to challenge tribunal’s decision

PPP's Asghar Ali Junejo, takes oath as MPA on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: With uncertainty looming over the Pakistan Muslim League - Functional (PML-F) after Jam Madad Ali's unseating, the former MPA plans to challenge the election tribunal's decision in the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately for the party, it lost one of its 11 seats in the Sindh Assembly just a day before the Senate polls scheduled for today. The blow came on Tuesday following the Hyderabad election tribunal's judgement which unseated the PML-F MPA from PS-81 constituency in Sanghar. His opponent, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Asghar Ali Junejo, was declared successful after the vote recount carried out in July 2014.

Junejo had earlier bagged 34,175 votes in the elections behind Ali's 35,548 votes. After the recount, he won from a margin of 2,440 votes. Junejo took the oath during Wednesday's session at the Sindh Assembly.

The impact

To win a seat out of the total seven up for grab for Sindh in the Senate, 21 votes of the MPAs are required. Eight candidates, including five from the PPP, two from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and one from the PML-F are contesting the Senate elections. While the PPP and the MQM are all set to win four and two seats respectively, there will be a contest on one seat between the PML-F and the PPP candidates.

The victory for PML-F's Imamuddin Shauqeen appeared certain as far as the vote count is concerned. In addition to its votes in the assembly, the party is expected to get eight from the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and two from the National Peoples Party unless any of the votes are lost to horse-trading.

Shauqeen was, however, of the view that losing a vote will not matter. "We are talking to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, which has four seats in the assembly and we hope that we will get their votes," he told The Express Tribune. However, he confirmed that so far the PTI has not yet assured him of support.

On the other hand, with addition of a new MPA the PPP will have 92 seats in the assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.