Pak ruling coalition wins Senate polls

Pakistan's ruling coalition seized a majority in Senate polls yesterday, unofficial results showed, after the election commission delayed the vote in a province controlled by loyalists of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan.

Polls for half the Senate's 96 seats are held every three years, elected by lawmakers from Pakistan's four provincial assemblies and the lower house of parliament.

Early results returned by provincial election commissions showed the ruling coalition had taken most of the seats that were up for grabs.

Eighteen senators from Punjab and Balochistan stood unopposed.

The results will be confirmed by the central election commission in the coming days.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are expected to appoint the leader of the Senate, after securing the most seats.

So far they have not played a major role in the government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, taking only the presidential role for party patriarch Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto. The vote in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was postponed due to a delay in reserved seats for women and religious minorities being appointed, the EC said.