Sadiq Sanjrani has emerged as the winner of the Senate chairman election, defeating Opposition candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Government-backed candidate Mirza Mohammad Afridi has won the election for the deputy chairman of the Senate with 54 votes, defeating Opposition’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who grabbed 44 votes. A total of 98 votes were cast for the election of the deputy chairman.
Amid a raging controversy over the alleged sale and purchase of votes and allegations flying thick and heavy between the Opposition and the government, the knife-edge elections for the posts of Senate chairman and deputy chairman were held today (Friday).
Polling for the Senate chairman’s post started at 3:00pm, presided over by officials from the Senate Secretariat. The process of voting completed at 4:40 pm, but counting started after the official time, i.e. 5:00pm.
Earlier in the day, the newly-elected members of the Upper House had taken their oath of office shortly after the session began at 10:00am.
