Meet the PPP candidates in the race for Senate

Islamabad

Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani (General Seat)

Gilani was born on June 9, 1952 in Karachi. He obtained his masters in Journalism from Punjab University in 1976. His grandfather, Ghulam Mustafa, was a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1946. Gilani entered politics after the death of his father, when in 1978, he became a member of the central working committee of the Muslim League. In 1982, he was elected chairman of the district council, Multan, after which he joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

He was elected to the national assembly for the first time in 1985 and was appointed the minister for housing and later in 1988 as the minister for tourism. In 1990, he contested polls from the platform of the People's Democratic Alliance and defeated his own uncle. Gilani was reelected to the parliament in 1993 and 2008. In fact in 2008, he became the 18th prime minister of Pakistan.

In 2013 he stayed out of the national polls but contested in 2018, when he lost to the PTI candidate.

Read more: The mathematics of the Senate elections

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Farhatullah Babar (Technocrat seat)

Babar is one of the most senior members of the PPP. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the University of Peshawar. When Benazir Bhutto became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Babar served as her spokesperson and speechwriter. He was first elected to the Senate in 2003 and then again in 2012. Babar has been a strong advocate for human rights and democracy.

Sindh

Farooq H. Naek (Technocrat seat)

The former chairman of the Senate, Farooq H. Naek was born on July 1, 1947. A lawyer by profession, Naek began his political struggle in 1971. But he was elected to the upper house of the parliament for the first time in 2003 from Sindh. Later, he was elected as the chairman of the Senate in 2008 under the PPP government. Naek has also previously served as the federal minister for law and justice.

Saleem Mandviwalla (General seat)

Saleem Mandviwalla was born on January 25, 1959 in Karachi. After completing his education, Mandviwalla joined his family business. In 2012, when D. Asim Hussain, a close associate of former President Asif Ali Zardari, resigned from the Senate the PPP fielded Mandviwalla for the vacant Senate seat. He is currently the deputy chairman of the Senate.

Sherry Rehman (General seat)

Sherry Rehman was born on December 21, 1960 in Karachi. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was the first female vice president of the State Bank of Pakistan. Rehman studied art history and political science at Smith College in the United States and then at the University of Sussex. In 2015, she made history as the first female opposition leader in the Senate. Rehman has also served as the Pakistan ambassador to the United States and an information minister.

Read more: Race to the Senate: Find out how the winner is decided

Shahadat Awan (General seat)

Shahadat Awan was born in 1952. He holds a law degree and one in political sciences from the Karachi University. Awan is a lawyer by profession.

Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar (General seat)

Dahar was born in January, 1953 in the village in Ghotki, Sindh. Previously, Dahar has served as the minister for population welfare. He also served as a member of the Sindh Assembly from 2002 to 2007, 2008 to 2013 and again from 2013 to 2018.

Taj Haider (General seat)

Taj Haider was born in 1942 in the Indian state of Rajasthan. After graduating from a local high school, he joined the Karachi University in 1959. He studied mathematics and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics in 1962. Haider was appointed the General Secretary of the PPP in 2010.

Dr. Karim Ahmed Khawaja (General seat)

Khawaja is considered as one of the oldest loyalists of the PPP. He served as the PPP senator for the first time from March 2012 to March 2018.

Palwasha Khan (Women seat)

Born in Lahore on April 16, 1976, Khan started her politics from the PPP platform in 2008, when she was named to the reserved seat for women in Punjab. She has been allotted several important portfolios during the PPP government. On November 4, 2018, she was appointed the deputy information secretary of the PPP.

Khairul Nisa Mughal

Mughal holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sindh. In 2013 she was appointed to the reserved seats for women in the Sindh assembly.