Senate chairman election: PML-N Senators being told not to vote for PDM, alleges Maryam Nawaz

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz on Thursday claimed that her party's Senators were being called and told not to vote for the PDM, as the government and Opposition both brace for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman elections.

The government and Opposition will lock horns on Friday when the upper house of the Parliament votes to elect its chairman and deputy chairman Senate.

Taking to Twitter, Maryam Nawaz alleged that PML-N Senators had recorded evidence of the calls.

"Our senators are being called and asked not to vote for PDM candidate. Some of them have recorded the evidence," she tweeted.

While former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani is the PDM's joint candidate for the parliament, the government has thrown its weight behind current Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Tensions rose between the two sides after Gillani pulled a shock victory over Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the Senate elections, with PM Imran Khan accusing the Opposition of using unfair practices to win.

PM Imran Khan accuses Opposition of using unfair means to win Islamabad Senate seat

The Senate elections, that took place on March 3, have heightened tensions between the government and the Opposition after Gillani defeated Shaikh by polling 169 votes against his opponent's 164 votes. Six votes were rejected while one was not polled.

Following the development, PM Imran Khan had addressed the nation, accusing the Opposition of spending money to influence the elections.

"What sort of democracy is this? So I began a campaign for open balloting," PM Imran Khan had said during his address.

The premier said in the 2018 Senate elections, the party found that 20 lawmakers "sold themselves off".

"But it was not just me that had started this. The PML-N and PPP signed a Charter of Democracy favouring the open balloting method because money rules in the Senate elections," he had stressed.

"We presented a bill in the parliament for open balloting in Senate elections. When other parties who previously supported open balloting did not support our demand, we went to the Supreme Court.

"Even a video surfaced in which KP MPAs were receiving bribes in exchange for Senate votes," PM Imran Khan had said.