Senate of Pakistan. Photo: File 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also claimed to have the required number of votes to elect their own Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

Earlier, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which won the most seats in the Senate elections on March 3, had claimed to possess the required number of votes for electing its own chairman and deputy chairman.

The PML-N's strength in the Senate is now 33 while the PPP comes in second with 20 senators. 

PPP leader Dr Qayyum Soomro, who is leading efforts regarding the Senate chief?s race, told Geo News on Friday the party has the support of 59 senators out of the total 104. A total of 53 senators are needed to ensure victory in the Senate chairman race.

Raza Rabbani ignored Nawaz's constitutional violations: Zardari

'Rabbani ignored Nawaz's constitutional violations...this may be the reason the two are close'

He claimed to have the support of 13 senators of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), eight independents from Balochistan and six from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), five Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), four Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and one each from PML-Functional and Awami National Party.

He claimed that Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has assured them of the PTI's votes. 

'PML-N considering Raja Zafarul Haq for chairman'

Meanwhile, sources have revealed that the PML-N is considering party chairman Senator Raja Zafarul Haq as its Senate chairman candidate. Senator Mushahidullah Khan is presently in Karachi where he, along with Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair, held meetings MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar and the party's dissident 'Bahadurabad faction'.

Moreover, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazul Rehman has said he will again talk to the PPP for the reappointment of present Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, a veteran PPP leader, after party chief Asif Ali Zardari's decision to not consider him owing to several differences.

After meeting Bizenjo on Thursday, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had said he has placed his 13 senators with the Balochistan chief minister to hold dialogue with other parties to bring a joint candidate. 

The same day, Zardari also held a meeting with Bizenjo in Islamabad where he said Rabbani had ignored Nawaz Sharif's constitutional violations in the past three years.