ISLAMABAD - Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi, who was elected as an independent senator from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

After a meeting with former prime minister and PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif on Monday, Afridi announced joining the PML-N.

In the Senate polls on Saturday, PML-N-backed independent candidates emerged as the largest party in the Upper House of Parliament.

While the move is an anticipated one, keeping in view that Fata senators tend to tilt towards the ruling party after elections, it is pertinent to note that parliamentarians from the PML-N had abstained from voting in Senate polls for Fata held on March 3.

Despite Afridi’s joining the ruling party, he will remain an independent senator unless he moves the Election Commission of Pakistan and it subsequently notifies him as a PML-N senator.

Afridi, an industrialist by profession, is the paternal nephew of former Senator and MNA Muhammad Shah Afridi and cousin of Javed Afridi, the owner of Peshawar Zalmi – a Pakistan Super League team.

As many as 25 candidates contested for the four Senate seats from Fata. The four candidates who won include Hidayatullah, Hilalur Rehman, Shamim Afridi and Mirza Mohammad Afridi. Where Hidayatullah and Hilalur Rehman were re-elected, Shamim Afridi and Afridi are newcomers.