Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Saidal Nasir Khan were elected as the Senate chairman and deputy chairman without opposition amidst protests from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). No other candidates put forth nominations for these significant Senate positions.
President Asif Ali Zardari convened the session for its inaugural meeting today for the swearing-in of the newly-elected members and the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
As the session commenced, with Senator Ishaq Dar presiding, PTI members initiated protests, demanding the house’s adjournment until senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were elected. Senator Ali Zafar, speaking on behalf of the PTI, insisted that the Senate election be postponed, citing Article 59 of the Constitution, which mandates the presence of 96 members for such elections to be constitutional.
Expressing discontent over Senate polls in Punjab excluding reserved seats, Senator Zafar highlighted that the election of the house’s leadership was becoming contentious.
Addressing the opposition’s objections, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeem Tarar emphasized that Article 60 of the Constitution mandates the election of Senate chairman and deputy chairman as soon as vacancies occur.
Tarar clarified that the term “duly constituted” was introduced because the Senate did not exist in our legislative system before the 1973 Constitution. However, he noted that the framers of the Constitution did not include this term in the election of the chairman.
Referring to the postponement of Senate polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Tarar attributed it to the KP government’s failure to comply with the Peshawar High Court’s orders regarding the oath-taking of MPAs elected on reserved seats.
Recalling the 2015 election of Senate chairman and deputy chairman, Tarar mentioned that objections were raised then as well due to the absence of four senators from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). However, the House proceeded as per Article 67, which states that the absence of any member(s) does not invalidate Senate proceedings.
He also blamed the PTI for impeding the election of senators from KP, resulting in the polls’ postponement by the ECP. After the legal explanation by the minister, Ishaq Dar ruled on the matter, overruling the objections in light of the Constitution’s provisions.
