LAHORE  -  The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has granted a Senate ticket to the senior party leader Rana Sanaullah Khan for a general seat from the Punjab Assembly.  The by-election has been fixed for September 9 on the vacant seat following the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

With the two-thirds majority of the PML-N and allied parties in the Punjab Assembly, the election of Rana Sanaullah is considered a surety. Party insiders indicate that after joining the Senate, he would likely be included in the federal cabinet with a full-fledged ministerial portfolio. Presently functioning as Adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the rank of a federal minister, Sanaullah is also the influential PML-N Punjab President. He is known to be one of the closest associates of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and has been a key figure in the party’s organizational and election strategy in Punjab.

An experienced politician from Faisalabad, Rana Sanaullah suffered a rare personal defeat in the February 2024 general elections when he couldn’t win a National Assembly seat from his hometown. Notwithstanding this defeat, his political reputation within the PML-N has been unscathed, thanks mostly to his long-standing loyalty and following in Punjab’s politics. Sanaullah has also held the position of Punjab’s Law Minister under various PML-N governments and earned the reputation of being a firebrand and blunt player in provincial politics. His combative approach against the PTI leadership under Imran Khan’s administration made him one of the most prominent faces of the opposition. He was also involved in numerous high-profile court cases, such as his arrest in 2019 on charges of possessing narcotics, which were widely termed by the PML-N politically motivated.

With the decision to nominate Sanaullah for the Senate, the PML-N leadership is expressing faith in his potential to contribute more at the federal level, especially as the party attempts to strengthen its hold over parliament and government.

 His reappointment as a minister will likely strengthen the PML-N’s representation in the cabinet and its hold over the political narrative of Punjab.

The Senate by-election will further consolidate PML-N’s strength in the upper house, weakening PTI’s representation, whose lawmakers have witnessed a series of disqualifications in recent months.