Already won Senate poll, today just come to fulfill purpose: Yousaf Raza Gillani
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leader and PDM joint Senate candidate on Wednesday said that he has already won the election, today they have just come to fulfill the purpose.
Speaking to the media persons, the former premier also claimed that he has won the polls beforehand and his opponent from PTI Dr Hafeez Shaikh will not receive votes. "PDM purpose has already been fulfilled," he added.
Referring his son Ali Haider Gillani’s leaked video, Yousaf Raza Gillani said the footage is planted. "Calling his son's video a planted, he said that the videos would have an effect when our MNAs were seen with him," he maintained.
The polling for 37 seats in the Senate is underway through secret ballot in Parliament House and provincial assemblies of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The voting process of the Senate started at 9am and will continue till 5pm without any break.
Staff of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reached the Parliament House in Islamabad early morning on Wednesday. The campaign for this year's election ended at midnight on March 3.
It is pertinent to mention here that lawmakers will be casting votes in one of the country's most hotly contested Senate elections where the transparency of the electoral process has become a key issue.
The MPAs will be voting on 37 vacant seats of the Senate with 11 senators elected unopposed from Punjab. Now polling will be held for 12 seats each of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 of Sindh and two of the federal capital.
A total of 78 candidates are vying for the seats from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad. All Senate candidates from Punjab were elected unopposed last month after disqualification or withdrawal of papers by other contestants.
Two senators will be elected from the federal capital, eleven from Sindh and twelve each from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
PTI MNA Mian Shafiq Arain polled the first vote while Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda polled the second vote According to the code, the members of National Assembly are required to bring their secretariat cards along in order to cast votes.
Other prominent figures who have cast their votes so far include Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Speaker Asad Qaiser, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhary and Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda.
From opposition benches, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, BNP-M head Akhtar Mengal and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi have casted their votes.
