ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court dismissed on Wednesday a petition by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani challenging the results of the senate chairman’s election.

Gillani was the joint candidate for senate chairman of an 11-party opposition alliance. The government’s candidate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani won the election on March 12 with 48 votes against Gillani’s 42.

The election presiding officer announced that in seven ballot papers the stamp was affixed on the name of the candidate rather than in a box alongside the name and rejected the votes for breaking rules. All seven votes had been for Gillani.

Gillani challenged the result earlier this week requesting the IHC to declare the rejection of the seven votes for him unlawful and return him as a candidate for the office of the senate chairman, but the IHC ruled that the constitution prevents the court from interfering into parliament proceedings.

“The petition is neither maintainable nor is this Court inclined to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution by issuing notices. Consequently the petition is accordingly dismissed,” the court said in Wednesday’s ruling.

“The grievance of the Petitioner in the matter in hand exclusively pertains to questioning the validity of proceedings of the upper House of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and thus it is immune from interference by this Court under Article 69 of the Constitution.”

The court added that it expected that “the chosen representatives and political leadership will endeavour to resolve disputes without involving the judicial branch of the State” to maintain the dignity, integrity and independence of parliament.

The opposition collectively has 52 members in the house, against 47 senators from the ruling coalition led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, with the difference between the vote bank of the government and the opposition narrowed down to four.

The ruling coalition in senate currently has 27 members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, 12 of the Balochistan Awami Party, three of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, three independents and one each of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) and the Grand Democratic Alliance.

Opposition senators are 21 from the Pakistan Peoples Party, 17 from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, five from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), two each from the Awami National Party (ANP), Balochistan National Party (Mengal), the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and National Party and one from the Jamaat-i-Islami.