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2024 Pakistani Senate election

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48 out of 96 seats in the Senate of Pakistan 49 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yusuf Raza Gilani Ishaq Dar Syed Ali Zafar Party PPP PML(N) PTI Leader since 2021 2022 2021 Leader's seat General Islamabad Technocrat Islamabad Technocrat Punjab Last election 21 17 27 Seats won 24 19 17 Seat change 3 2 10
Map of Pakistan showing Senate seats.
Chairman before election Sadiq Sanjrani BAP Elected Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani PPP

Elections for the Senate of Pakistan were held on 2 April 2024. Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were postponed by the ECP.

52 out of 100 incumbent Senators including 4 FATA senators retired after completing their 6 year terms. After the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the remaining 4 out of 8 seats were also abolished. 48 seats from four Provinces and the Federal Capital were up for election, including the seats for which the election was postponed.

Background

The previous Senate elections on these seats were held on 3 March 2018. As a result of these elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) became the largest party in the Senate as it won the most seats, securing 18 of the 48 senate seats up for election; of which 10 came from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 from Punjab, 2 from Sindh, and one from Islamabad. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came in second by winning 8 seats, of which 7 were won in Sindh and one in Islamabad. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was declared victorious on 6 seats - all from Balochistan. Finally, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) lost its majority in the Senate as it could only manage 5 seats from Punjab against 16 retiring senators.

After the results were declared, much of the focus was on the Islamabad General seat won by PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani where he beat PTI's incumbent finance minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, by a margin of 5 votes. Although, Gillani was the opposition's joint candidate, he still did not have the required majority unless those on the treasury benches voted for him or intentionally voided their votes in the secret ballot. This fact, coupled with the leaked video of his son, led to PTI petitioning the Election Commission of Pakistan against his victory.

Meanwhile, Gurdeep Singh of the PTI became the first Sikh to be elected to the Senate of Pakistan as he won the minority seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Abdul Qadir, who had won as an Independent from Balochistan, later joined the PTI, increasing the tally of the party to 26 in the Senate.

Results

Results by Administrative Units

Below are the results by administrative unit. Elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were postponed due to the refusal of the Speaker of its Provincial Assembly to administer oaths to opposition members elected on reserved seats, which he claimed to belong to the Sunni Ittehad Council.

Aftermath

On 9 April 2024, Yusuf Raza Gilani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Syedaal Khan Nasar of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)), both being candidates of the treasury benches, were elected unopposed to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman positions respectively. They replaced Sadiq Sanjrani of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Mirza Muhammad Afridi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The opposition PTI boycotted the election, arguing for its postponement until after Senate elections were held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On the same day, Ishaq Dar of the PML(N) was appointed as Leader of the House in the Senate, a position he has held since 30 September 2022. On 22 April, Shibli Faraz of the PTI was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, replacing Shahzad Waseem, also of the PTI.

References

1. "Senate elections on 48 seats to be held on April 2". Geo.tv. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
2. "Senate elections on April 2". Pakistan Observer. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
3. "Abolition of Fata seats: Senate's numerical strength to be reduced after tribal areas merger". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
4. "PTI makes substantial gains in Senate but suffers major setback in lslamabad". DAWN.COM. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
5. "Yousaf Raza Gillani beats PTI's Hafeez Shaikh in Senate race". Pakistan Observer. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
6. "PTI approach ECP to stop Gilani's Senate victory notification". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
7. Jamal, Sana (4 March 2021). "PTI's Gurdeep Singh makes history by becoming first Sikh to win elections in Pakistan Senate". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
8. "Senator-elect Abdul Qadir joins PTI, reposes confidence in PM Imran Khan". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
9. Hayat, Arif; Ahmed, Shoaib; Siddiqui, Tahir; Guramani, Nadir; Hakeem, Abdul (2 April 2024). "Coalition sweeps polls on 19 Senate seats". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
10. Guramani, Nadir (9 April 2024). "Yousaf Raza Gillani clinches Senate chairmanship as PML-N's Syedal Khan Nasir secures deputy role". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
11. "Dar appointed leader of the house in Senate". The Express Tribune. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
12. "Shibli Faraz appointed new opposition leader in Senate". HUM News. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.

• 2024 elections in Pakistan
• April 2024 events in Pakistan
• Senate elections in Pakistan