QUETTA: Polling for the 11 Senate seats from Balochistan has been rendered unnecessary as all the candidates, comprising seven for general seats and two each for seats reserved for women and technocrats, have been elected unopposed ahead of the scheduled election on April 2.
Nine senators were declared winners a day prior, with the outcome awaited for the two remaining technocrat seats.
Maulana Abdul Wasey from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and Bilal Khan Mandokhail from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have secured seats on the reserved category.
Among the nine candidates elected unopposed to the Senate from Balochistan is former caretaker prime minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, returning to the upper house as an independent candidate on a general seat.
Similarly, representatives from various parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), PPP, National Party, and Awami National Party (ANP) have also clinched general seats.
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Additionally, PML-N and PPP have secured the two women's seats available in the province, with candidates Rahat Jamali and Hasna Bibi respectively.
In total, PML-N and PPP each secured three seats, while JUI-F secured two, and ANP and National Party secured one seat each.
In Punjab, seven candidates were elected unopposed as senators on general seats, including prominent figures from PML-N and individuals backed by Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
However, elections will be held for the five seats reserved for technocrats, women, and minorities in Punjab.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the Senate elections to fill 48 vacant seats, as four reserved seats for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) were abolished following the 25th Constitutional amendment.
