Imran Khan skips voting in Pak Senate elections

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former cricketer Imran Khan has skipped voting in the Senate (Upper House of Pakistan Parliament) election that was held earlier today.

According to PTI Member of National Assembly (MNA) Shafqat Mahmood, Imran skipped voting in the Senate election as he had "other commitments". He will not be present in the Pakistan Parliament as well.

Earlier in the day, during his visit to a private hotel here, Imran evaded a question of whether his spiritual advisor had barred him from casting his vote in elections, Geo News reported.

Pakistan's political parties are electing the members of the Senate on Saturday, amid allegations that money was being used to buy votes. The vote began at 9 am and ended at 4 pm.

The Senate has 104 members elected for six years, but half of them retire every three years at the completion of the term and new senators are elected indirectly by provincial and national assembly through proportional representation.

A total of 135 candidates are contesting, including 20 from Pakistan People Party (PPP), 14 from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), 13 from PTI and four from Pakistan Sarzameen Party (PSP).

There are 65 candidates, who are independent and they also include 23 from ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N).

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the polling was held at the four provincial and the national assembly buildings across the country.