National Assembly lawmakers and MPAs from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will elect six senators in a by-election, being held on the vacant seats of the upper house of parliament today.

PPP leader Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is contesting the election to regain his seat from Islamabad which had fallen vacant following his victory as an MNA in the Feb 8 general elections. Gilani will face Chaudhry Ilyas Mehrban of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in a one-on-one contest for which polling will be held in the National Assembly hall from 10am to 4pm.

Though there has been no official announcement that Mr Gilani is the candidate of the newly formed eight-party ruling coalition for the top Senate office, the fact that no one from the PML-N submitted papers against him gives credence to such reports.

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