ISLAMABAD: On Tuesday, amid uproarious protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the newly-elected senators took their oath, denouncing the election process for the chairman and deputy chairman as “unconstitutional” due to an alleged “incomplete house.”
President Asif Ali Zardari had convened the house for its inaugural session to administer the oath to the newly-elected members and conduct the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.
When the session began today with Senator Ishaq Dar as the presiding officer, the PTI members launched the protest and demanded adjournment of the house till the election of senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman took place today.
Speaking on the floor of the house, PTI leader Senator Ali Zafar demanded the Senate election be deferred as Article 59 of the Constitution requires 96 members to be present in the house for the election of its chairman and that the “process would be unconstitutional till the house is complete”.
“We will not accept this illegal election till the senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are duly elected and are present here,” he insisted.
Lamenting that Senate polls in Punjab were held excluding the reserved seats, the PTI leader said that the election of the house’s chairman and deputy chairman are being made “controversial”.
“We wanted to participate in the election [of chairman and deputy chairman], however, we would not be part of it where it is ultra vires of the Constitution,” Senator Zafar added.
Blaming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for making controversial decisions, he called for the Senate session to be adjourned till senators from KP are elected.
In response to the objections raised by the opposition members, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeem Tarar stressed that Article 60 of the Constitution provisions elections for the posts of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman as soon as the key posts are vacated.
Stressing that the term “duly constituted” was only used as the Senate simply didn’t exist in our legislative system before the 1973 Constitution. However, he added, that the framers of the Constitution didn’t include the said term with the election of the chairman.
“The word ‘duly constituted’ is also not used in Article 53, which pertains to the constitution of National Assembly as it was already in existence when the [1973] Constitution was formulated,” Tarar said.
Lamenting the reasons behind the postponement of Senate polls in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the law minister said that the elections weren’t postponed due to any calamity.
He added that it was the KP government’s failure as it didn’t abide by the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) orders wherein it had directed to ensure administering of the oath to MPAs elected on reserved seats in the province.
“Had it been a case of force majeure, where the senate polls weren’t held [in KP] due to any natural disaster, this House would’ve decided whether to wait for them [senators elected from the province],” Tarar added.
Recalling the election of Senate chairman and deputy chairman in 2015 where Raza Rabbani and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri were elected to the said posts, respectively, the law minister said that even then an objection was raised against the election owing to the absence of four senators hailing from the then Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
However, the House proceeded nevertheless as Article 67 states that the absence of any member(s) doesn’t invalidate the proceedings of the Senate, Tarar added.
“The House is complete for Constitutional purposes,” he concluded.
He also blamed the PTI for creating obstacles in the election of senators from KP after which polls were postponed by the ECP.
Following legal explanation by the minister, Ishaq Dar gave his ruling on the matter.
“In the light of explanation given by the worth law minister, with reference to the provisions of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the objection is overruled.”
Prior to the start of the session today, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) prepared the nomination papers for the chairman election while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Saidal Khan Nasir for the deputy chairman.
According to the current party position in the upper house, the ruling collation candidates have the support of 24 senators of PPP, 19 of PML-N, four of BAP, three senators of ANP, three Independents and one of the National Party, which makes a total of 54.
If three senators of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and five of the JUIF also support Gilani, then the tally of votes would reach 62, which suggested that the ruling coalition’s nominee would be in a comfortable position to win the slot.
Meanwhile, the coalition government reached out to the leadership of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Pakistan (JUI-P) to garner support for Gilani. A government delegation, including Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Senator Dr Sherry Rehman, and Syed Naveed Qamar MNA, held a meeting with JUI-P Secretary General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri at his residence.
The JUI-P delegation, comprising Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Maulana Attaul Haq Darvesh, and Senator Dilawar Khan, was also present.
According to a JUI-P spokesman, the government delegation requested the party’s support for Gilani in the Senate chairman elections. Both sides agreed to consult their respective leadership before making any decisions.
Additionally, sources revealed that the delegation also sought JUI-P’s support for the Senate deputy chairman elections.
