PML-N to emrge as majority party in Senate

Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) lawmakers Monday claimed that the party would emerge as majority party in the Senate after grabbing maximum seats in the upper house of the parliament in March 3 polls.

Talking to APP, PML-N Senator Saud Majeed said according to the strength of ruling party in national and provincial assemblies, it would likely to secure at least 18 seats in the Senate. Senator Najma Hameed said the PML-N would win senate elections due to its good performance.

At least 15 new PML-N senators would make their way in the house raising the total number to 33, she added.

Since the composition of all provincial assemblies is more or less the same when the last Senate election was held in 2015, political experts believe that the results this time will also remain more or less the same, except in Balochistan.

It is always difficult to predict the outcome of Senate election in Balochistan due to complex and multi-dimensional politics in the province, where even independent candidates always have a chance to win the elections due to their personal influence or alleged practice of vote buying. And the recent change in the government in Balochistan has even made it more difficult for political experts to predict the results.

The PML-N is expected to have a clean sweep in Punjab by winning all 12 seats, including reserved seats for women, technocrats and minorities, due to its absolute majority in the provincial assembly. The PML-N has 310 MPAs in the 371-member Punjab Assembly, followed by 30 MPAs from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

However, some political experts believe that if the opposition parties agree on a consensus candidate and also succeed in winning over support of a few PML-N MPAs, they can manage to win one seat from Punjab.

Similarly, the PML-N is all set to win both the seats from Islamabad - one general and one technocrat seat. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who is among the four PML-Q senators retiring in March and who is known for changing his loyalties, is all set to become senator again from Islamabad on the PML-N ticket.

At present, the PML-N has 27 senators and nine of them will retire in March. The party is expected to win at least 15 seats and its total membership in the upper house is likely to rise up to 33.

The PML-N, having 16 MPAs in the KP Assembly, is expected to win one seat from the province.