Parliament Passes
Observers had expected the Pakistan Muslim League to prevail and put Sharif on track for another term as prime minister due to the disadvantages faced by PTI.
Along with Khan being in prison and accruing more criminal convictions, election officials and police blocked his party from holding rallies and opening campaign offices, and its online events were blocked. The PTI said the moves were intended to prevent them from competing in the election and gaining momentum with voters.
The partial results released Friday showed the Pakistan People’s Party of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of the assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in third place with 39 seats. All results were expected to be known by Friday night.
Bhutto-Zardari did not respond to requests for comment about his party’s performance.
After many Pakistani news channels reported early Friday that PTI-backed candidates were giving the parties led by Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari a run for their money, Sen. Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistan Muslim League member, called the media tallies “probably the biggest election upset” in the country’s last 50 years.
If no party wins an outright majority, the one with the most seats can try to form a coalition government. Pakistan’s deeply divided political climate, however, is unlikely to produce a coalition pulling together for the betterment of the country, which is grappling with high inflation, yearround energy outages and militant attacks.
Sporadic violence and a cellphone service shutdown overshadowed Thursday’s voting. The chief election commissioner previously said the results would be communicated to the oversight body by early Friday and released to the public after that. But it started happening only at midday. The interior ministry attributed the delay to a “lack of connectivity” resulting from security precautions.
The election commission also started announcing election results for the country’s four provincial assemblies. The commission posted results on its website more than 15 hours after polls closed.
Sharif struck a confident and defiant note on polling day, brushing off suggestions his party might not win an outright majority in parliament.
Sharif and Khan’s circumstances on election day represented a reversal of fortunes for the two men. Sharif returned to Pakistan in October after four years of self-imposed exile abroad to avoid serving prison sentences. Within weeks of his return, his convictions were overturned, leaving him free to seek a fourth term in office.
(Amendment) Bill, 2024, adds Valmiki community as a synonym of Chura, Balmiki, Bhangi, and Mehtar communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Jammu and Kashmir.
The bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order of 1956, which lists the castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The three bills were taken simultaneously for discussion and passage in the Upper House.
Replying to the discussion on the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda said the bill seeks to give justice to the communities who were demanding ST status for long.
“The scrapping of Article 370 has allowed us to bring these laws,” he noted.
Replying to the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai said the government has taken several steps for the welfare of the OBCs in the Union territory and this amendment is another step in that direction.
There are three main amendments to the bill. Firstly, the bill ensures reservation for OBCs in panchayats and municipal bodies in Jammu and Kashmir. Secondly, the state election commission will be in-charge of conducting elections to panchayats and municipalities, he said.
Thirdly, the removal process of state election commissioner will be according to the constitutional provisions and can only be removed under circumstances similar to those of a judge of a high court, Rai added.
He also listed out the development works undertaken after removal of Article 370 in the union territory and said Jammu & Kashmir is now peaceful and on the path of development.
Rai said incidents of terrorist activities and stone pelting have come down.
Replying to the discussion on