Senate general elections likely to be held on April 3 on 48 general elections seats as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has prepared the schedule for the Senate elections.
Sources familiar with the situation claimed that polling will be held on April 3 in the national and four provincial assemblies.
12 senators each from Sindh and Punjab while two senators from Islamabad will be elected.
Eleven new senators will be elected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
52 senators of the Senate will retire on March 11 after completing their term.
Those who are retiring including 12 from Punjab, 12 from Sindh, four senators from erstwhile FATA, 11 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan while two senators from Islamabad.
Under the 25th constitutional amendment, there will be no re-election on the 4 seats of the erstwhile FATA.
Must Read: Senate by-elections on vacant seats to be held on March 14: ECP
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the election schedule on the six vacant seats in the Senate.
Six seats were declared vacant when the Senate members were elected as members of other houses.
These six Senate seats including election schedule for one vacant seat in Islamabad, two in Sindh and three vacant seats in Balochistan.
As per schedule, nomination papers can be collected on March 2 and 3. The elections will be held on three vacant seats of Balochistan, two of Sindh and one of Islamabad.
How Punjab Assembly will elect new Senators?
The Punjab Assembly will elect twelve members of the Senate in the month of March. The Punjab Assembly will elect members of the Senate on seven general seats, two women's seats, two technocrat seats and one minority seat.
On March 8, 2024, 11 senators from Punjab will complete their term.
Among those who resigned, four senators are from PML-N on general seats — Asif Kirmani, Mossadegh Malik, Rana Mahmoodul Hasan and Khalid Shaheen Butt.
Two senators of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will retire after completing their term. Dr. Shahzad Wasim and Waleed Iqbal are among the retirees of Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Two women senators from Punjab on the seats reserved for women will also retire in March.
PMLN-backed Nizhat Sadiq and PTI-backed Sami Ezadi while two centers will also retire on the special seats of technocrat and Ulama including PML-N supported Ishaq Dar and Hafiz Abdul Akrim.
Kamran Michael is also retiring from Punjab on the seat reserved for minorities. Senator Maqbool Ahmed from Punjab died in September 2023.