Elections of Senate chairman & deputy chairman: PTI’s petition seeking stay rejected by IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), on Monday, rejected the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s request to stay the elections of the chairman and the deputy chairman Senate and issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition of five PTI senators including, Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Falak Naz, Fawzia Arshad, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Niazi, and Saifullah Abro, filed through Shoaib Shaheen advocate and cited the ECP and the principle secretary to the president as respondents.

They have requested the Court to stay the process of electing the chairman and the deputy chairman should be deferred until Senate elections are conducted in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

They contended that Senate elections have not taken place in KPK, thus, urging the court to halt the elections for chairman and deputy chairman until the province’s polls are conducted.

During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner contended that the instant petition calls in question notification dated 02.04.2024, wherein, elections for the Senate in the province of KPK were postponed. It was submitted that the apparent reason for the postponement of elections as the matter has been pending before the Supreme Court regarding reserved seats.

The PTI’s counsel submitted that another notification was also issued on 08.04.2024, wherein, it has been intimated that elections for the post of chairman and deputy chairman Senate shall be held on 09.04.2024. The counsel submitted that the election for chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate is to take place under Article 60 of the Constitution.

In response to the query of the Court, learned counsel pointed out that the term of the present chairman and deputy chairman Senate has expired. It was also contended that where such is the case, the president of Pakistan can nominate any person to hold the election or preside over the session. It was submitted that since one of the provinces is not represented, the Senate is not duly constituted.

Shaheen submitted that there are a total of 104 seats in the Senate of Pakistan and each province has 14 seats, whereas, for the province of KPK, at present, perhaps 11 seats are vacant. It was submitted that the referred act of respondents regarding the election of Senate amounts to depriving a province from representation.

He added that the election to the offices of chairman and deputy chairman cannot be held in the absence of holding of election to the vacant seats of the Senate from the KPK Assembly which amounts to undermining the provincial autonomy and due representation of KPK in the Senate which represents the federal constitution.

The petition said that under Article 60 of the constitution, the election to the offices of chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate can only be held after the Senate has been duly constituted. It is submitted that the Senate, in the absence of the said vacant seats to the Senate from KPK, is not duly constituted.

The Electoral College being incomplete and not duly constituted for the election to the said offices of chairman and deputy chairman holding of the said election would be in violation of the constitution. It is submitted that since 11 seats of the Senate from KPK are to be filled through election and only after the said election the Senate would be duly constituted. Any election for the offices of the chairman and deputy chairman in absence of a duly constituted Senate shall be void.

Later, the court issued notices to the electoral watchdog seeking its response and deferred the proceedings.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024