ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) have started lobbying for the position of Senate chairman and both parties are in the process of contacting smaller parties as well as independent senators for support.

The jostling comes a day after elections were held for 104 seats of the Upper House of Parliament, the outcome of which has seen the ruling PML-N and main opposition PPP getting almost equal representation in the Senate over the next three years.

But despite winning the most seats, the PML-N will continue to remain a minority government in the Senate with 26 senators as the PPP has maintained its position as the single largest party with 27 senators. This means that the race for the coveted slots of chairman and deputy chairman will be hotly contested and the role of smaller parties cannot be underestimated.

Independent senator-elect from Balochistan Yousuf Badini on Friday spoke to former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and assured his full cooperation for the election of a chairman and a deputy chairman for the Senate.

Also read: Closer, messier Senate emerges after polls

Zardari thanked Badini for his support for the coming election to the post of Senate chairman which is scheduled to take place on March 12. A deputy speaker for the upper house will be elected on the same day and sources have said the position would likely be given to a candidate from Balochistan this time.

Badini’s support to the PPP comes as sources tell Dawn that the currently independent senator is expected to formally join the party in coming days.

Meanwhile, lobbying has also started within the newly-elected PPP senators vying for the position of Senate chairman.

Senior PPP leaders Abdul Rehman Malik, Farooq H Naek, Raza Rabbani and Aitzaz Ahsan have emerged as strong candidates for the position of chairman. However, a final decision in this regard would likely be made by Zardari during the coming week.

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PPP, ANP secure seats in KP Assembly

Even though Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and coalition partners won all their seven seats in the Senate elections in the KP Assembly, a few members of the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) have cast votes against their party-nominated candidates which paved way for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) to grab one important seat each from the KP assembly.

Sources said that three PTI legislators deviated from the party's policy and voted for PPP candidate Khan Zada Khan due to which he scored nine, including five PPP members, in the KP assembly.

The source claimed that an independent member Jamshed Khan also voted for Khanzada Khan which is why PPP managed to secure a seat from the KP Assembly with only five members.

Sources claimed that three PML-N members voted for Sitara Ayaz against their own woman candidate Shaheen Bibi. There are 16 PML-N members in the KP Assembly but Shaheen only secured 11 votes.

Two votes on women seats were rejected while three PML-N candidates voted for Sitara Ayaz, sources claimed.