Newly elected Senate members to be sworn in on March 12

• Future senators to be sworn in March 12, confirms Senate Secretariat
• Elections for the Senate chairman, deputy chairman will be held the same afternoon
• PM Imran Khan nominates Sadiq Sanjrani as PTI candidate for Senate chairman

ISLAMABAD: The newly elected members of the Senate will be sworn in on March 12, the Senate Secretariat said Thursday.

The tenure of the retiring senators ends March 11.

A statement by the Senate Secretariat said the oath taking will be held in the morning, while the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman will be held the same afternoon.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated Sadiq Sanjrani as the PTI's candidate for the slot of Senate chairman.

This was confirmed by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz in a tweet on Thursday.

The high-stakes Senate elections were held in Pakistan a day earlier. Former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani pulled a shock victory over the PTI's Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the Senate polls.

After the result was announced, Dr Shaikh and Gilani shook hands and hugged each other. The news of Dr Shaikh's defeat was told to him by Zain Qureshi — who was the minister's polling agent — following which the two men embraced each other.

Gillani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 votes. Out of the total 341 votes, six were rejected and one was not polled.

The much-awaited Senate elections ended with PTI emerging as the top victor with 18 seats, followed by PPP with eight.

Victory for PTI, however, was bittersweet because of Dr Shaikh's defeat.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari triumphantly tweeted: "Democracy is the best revenge. Jeya Bhutto!"

According to the returning officer, who announced the results after counting ended in the National Assembly, six of the total 340 ballots cast in the National Assembly were rejected.