[2] The results of these elections were steeped in controversy due to rampant allegations of horse trading and vote-buying, which lead to the Prime Minister and opposition leader Imran Khan calling for reforms.

Thus, effectively, the senators in Pakistan are voted for by serving members of the country's National and Provincial Assemblies and not the public.

[9][10][11][12] In terms of seats, there is a fixed representation of each of the country's administrative units in the senate, apart from the disputed territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

[17][18] On 28 July 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office.

Following this, the Elections Act 2017 was passed, which allowed Sharif to serve as party head despite being disqualified.

[19] However, in a later judgement passed by the Supreme Court on 21 February 2018, Sharif was disqualified from holding office as party president.

In this judgement, all decisions taken by Sharif during his tenure as party president were declared null and void, including Senate tickets which he had signed himself.

The Election Commission of Pakistan establishes the criterion for the minimum number of points required to attain a senate seat.

[13] It is pertinent to mention that the points system is only used for senators to be elected from general, women, and technocrat seats in provincial assemblies.

[34] The strong performance of the PPP raised many eyebrows and led to allegations of 'horse trading' by the party.

[39] Finally, on a Women seat from Sindh, Krishna Kolhi of the PPP became the first Dalit to be elected to the Senate of Pakistan.

During that time, retiring senators make their farewell speeches[43][44][45] and any objections on the successful candidates is handled.

[48] Joint opposition's candidates, Sadiq Sanjrani and Saleem Mandviwalla, won the elections for their respective seats.