Tightrope in the Senate

KARACHI: After prolonged delays, all 96 seats of the Senate will be filled by July 31, with Monday’s round of elections significantly shaping the Upper House’s political dynamics.

In the election held yesterday (Monday), 11 Senate seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were contested. The PTI secured six seats, while the JUI-F and the PPP won two seats each. One seat was claimed by the PML-N. Punjab’s single vacant seat also went to the PML-N.

The central political question ahead of the polls was whether the ruling coalition would achieve a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which requires 64 seats. Following the latest election, the PML-N now holds 20 seats, PPP has 26 and their allied parties and independents collectively hold 14 — bringing the total to 60, just four seats short of the required supermajority.

When the parliamentary leader of the PML-N in the Senate, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, was asked if the ruling alliance had obtained a two-thirds majority in the upper house of parliament, he replied in the negative.

So, who fills the gap for the government alliance? It could be either the ANP or the JUI-F, both of which are currently occupying the opposition benches. The opposition currently holds 35 seats, with the PTI’s 22 (including six independents from KP), SIC and MWM each with one seat, the JUI-F with seven, ANP with three and one independent member.