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ISLAMABAD: Sadiq Sanjrani, the PTI-led government’s candidate, has won the knife-edge Senate chairman election over Yousaf Raza Gillani, fielded by the Opposition parties’ anti-government coalition under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) banner, marking a significant victory for the ruling party.
Sanjrani received 48 votes, while Gillani bagged 42. Eight of the 98 votes in total were rejected, including one that had a stamp on both names.
Earlier, the Senate session started at 10am with oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected lawmakers, while the voting process completed shortly before 5pm, after which the counting began.
The PTI regime and the Opposition-led PDM had locked horns for the Senate’s chairman and deputy chairman posts, following jibes between the two sides, controversies, and secretly-made videos.
The polls were conducted by the Senate Secretariat officials.
Almost 10 days ago during the Senate Elections 2021, the PDM’s Yousaf Raza Gillani had emerged the victor from his Islamabad seat, beating Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh — associated with the ruling PTI — in what was arguably the most-watched contest. Gillani had bagged 169 votes, whereas Shaikh got 164. One vote had not been cast.
