Vacant Senate seats may have little effect on presidential poll outcome

ISLAMABAD: The ten vacant seats of the Senate may have a minor effect on the presidential election. The majority of the vacant seats have become vacant because their members were either elected to the national or provincial assemblies.

However, one seat of the PML-N is vacant due to the death of Rana Maqbool last year; the seat has remained vacant since then because the election could not be held due to the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. One seat is vacant because Senator Shaukat Tarin resigned and the election for this seat was not held because of the absence of the electoral college as he was elected from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, which was also dissolved at that time.

According to the PPP’s calculations, former president and current joint presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari will lose around two or three votes despite the ten vacant seats in the Senate since the remaining votes will be covered by the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

The PPP has a clear majority in the Sindh Assembly, is a coalition partner in Punjab, and leads the coalition government in Balochistan. This will probably give a comfortable edge to Asif Ali Zardari against his rival in the presidential elections. So far, an opposing candidate for the presidential post has not been announced by any of the opposition parties.

The electoral college has both the houses of parliament -- Senate and National Assembly whose members have one person, one vote in the presidential election -- and the provincial assemblies which vote according to a different formula.Since Zardari has not yet been able to get the support of the JUI-F and the MQM-P, every single vote will be precious for him. And, although this alliance does hold a majority in the National Assembly, Sindh Assembly, Punjab Assembly and the Balochistan Assembly and Zardari also has the support of the Balochistan Awami Party, the vacant Senate seats are also a factor that will affect his votes. Among the senators whose seats are vacant is the PPP’s Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani who has resigned from the Senate because he has been elected as a member of the National Assembly while the PPP’s Senator Jam Mehtab and Senator Nisar Khuhro have been elected members of the Sindh Assembly. PPP Senator Sarfaraz Bugti and Senator Prince Ahmed Zai have been elected members of the Balochistan Assembly. Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidari has been elected as a member of the National Assembly. PML-N Senator Nuzhat Sadiq has become a member of the National Assembly on a reserved seat. Senator Sadiq Sanjrani has also been elected member of the Balochistan Assembly but he did not take oath as an MPA and did not resign from the Senate. PML-N Senator Maqbool Ahmad Khan has passed away. PTI Senator Shaukat Tarin has resigned.

Balochistan Awami Party Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar resigned on August 14 after becoming caretaker prime minister. The by-election for the vacant seats in the Senate will be held on March 14, while the presidential election will be held on March 9.