ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR/LAHORE: The ruling coalition has secured almost two-thirds majority in the Senate following Monday’s elections, held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies, strengthening its grip on the legislative process in Parliament.
According to official results, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has emerged as the largest party in the upper house with 26 seats. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) follows with 20 seats. Independent candidates hold six seats, while the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has four. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP) each hold three seats.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), meanwhile, retains 16 Senate seats and is backed by six independent senators, bringing its total strength to 22. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF) now holds seven seats after the KP elections.
With this expanded Senate presence, the ruling alliance is now positioned to steer legislative business smoothly through the upper house, requiring only a simple majority to pass ordinary bills and two-thirds for constitutional amendments.
Earlier in the day, combined opposition in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly secured five seats in the Senate polls, held in the provincial assembly on Monday.
The ruling PTI elected six senators including four on general seats and one each on technocrat and women’s reserved seats in the polls, where a total of 144 votes were polled in the 145-member house.
According to officials, two votes were rejected on technical grounds. PPP’s Talha Mehmood was elected on a general seat, while Rubina Khalid was elected on a women’s reserved seat.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl provincial general secretary Maulana Attaul Haq Darwesh was elected on a general seat while Delawar Khan was elected on a technocrat seat. PMLN’s Niaz Ahmad Khan, son of Federal Minister Engineer Amir Muqam, was elected on a general seat.
PTI’s Murad Saeed, former federal minister, Faisal Javed, former federal minister Noorul Haq Qadri and Mirza Mohammad Afridi were elected on general seats, former senator Azam Khan Swati was elected on a technocrat seat, while Rubina Naz was elected on women reserved seat.
These 11 seats in the Upper House of Parliament had been vacant since March 2024 as the polls were delayed due to controversy over reserved seats for women and minority members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
All the women and minority MPAs, who were sworn in as members of provincial assembly at Governor’s House on Sunday, cast their votes in the Senate poll, which started at 11am and continued till 5pm.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was the last one who cast his vote minutes before the election process ended. PTI’s disgruntled candidate Khurram Zeeshan was defeated as he could not secure the required number of votes. He was contesting for a general seat and he was the only candidate who had not withdrawn his candidature despite repeated requests from the party leadership and KP chief minister.
The other four PTI annoyed candidates including Waqas Orakzai, Irshad Hussain, Irfan Salim and Ayesha Bano had pulled out of the contest.
According to the results, the fugitive leader of PTI Murad Saeed obtained 26 votes, followed by Faisal Javed with 22 votes while Noorul Haq Qadri and Mirza Afridi got 21 votes each on the general seats. JUIF’s Maulana Attaul Haq Darwesh and PMLN’s Niaz Ahmad Khan secured 18 votes each while PPP’s Talha Mehmood got 17 votes.
In the 145-member house, the ruling PTI enjoys the support of 92 MPAs while the combined opposition has 52 members. The JUIF has 18 members, PMLN 17, while PPP has 10 lawmakers in the provincial assembly.
The Awami National Party has four and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarian has three MPAs. Separately, accusations emerged within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over allegedly concealing and altering the list of Senate candidates from party founder Imran Khan ahead of the KP Senate elections.
According to party sources, the PTI leadership in KP sent a list of seven recommended candidates to the founder on July 15. However, the list was reportedly not shared with Imran Khan by party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, and other senior leaders.
Sources claim the list, prepared by the KP provincial organisation, was conveyed to the central leadership by KP General Secretary Ali Asghar Khan, but it never reached the founding chairman. The original list reportedly included names such as Murad Saeed, Irfan Saleem, Faisal Javed, Khurram Zeeshan, Azhar Mashwani, Noorul Haq Qadri, and Azam Swati for the technocrat seat. Notably, Mirza Afridi’s name was not part of the recommended panel.
Party insiders allege that Barrister Saif held consultations on an alternative set of names, side-lining the provincial leadership’s input. KP General Secretary Ali Asghar Khan confirmed that the provincial organisation had finalised and submitted a list after consultations with district and provincial leaders, with the expectation that it would be presented to the party founder. He stated that the organisation had also proposed forming a parliamentary board for final selections.
Responding to the controversy, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar denied any wrongdoing, stating, “I neither changed the names nor withheld any list.” Barrister Saif was approached for comment, but did not respond.
Meanwhile, PMLN Monday won the vacant Senate seat of Punjab after its candidate Hafiz Abdul Kareem secured 243 votes against opposition candidate Mehr Abdul Sattar, who could get 99 votes.
The polling was held in Punjab Assembly from 9am to 4pm and 345 MPAs, out of total 369, cast their votes, while three votes were declared invalid. One Punjab Assembly seat is lying vacant currently whereas one member is yet to take oath in the house of 371.
Rana Muhammad Arshad of PMLN and Rana Shahbaz of opposition served as the polling agents. The PMLN has a strength of 229 in the house; however, it could not get its complete vote cast as some of its MPAs are abroad. All 16 MPAs of the PPP, led by parliamentary leader Syed Ali Haider Gilani, cast their vote in support of the PMLN candidate and 11 PMLQ MPAs also supported its major coalition partner. The Istehkam-e-Pakistan (IPP), another coalition partner of the PMLN, has seven MPAs. The seat had fallen vacant after the demise of Jamiat Ahle Hadith Ameer Sajid Mir, who had also served as a senator for multiple terms during the last three decades. This was the polling for technocrat seat.
Newly-elected Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem, after the announcement of the results, expressed his gratitude to Allah Almighty and then the PMLN entire leadership over his election.
