ISLAMABAD: The boycott by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) allowed the ruling coalition on Tuesday to get both of its candidates – Yousaf Raza Gilani of PPP and Syedal Khan Nasir of PML-N – chairman and deputy chairman elected “unopposed”, respectively.
The duo was elected in a session during which 41 newly elected senators were also sworn in amid a noisy protest by PTI, which boycotted the election, terming it “illegal and unconstitutional since it is taking place in an incomplete house”.
Senator Ishaq Dar presided over the session amid protests by PTI lawmakers who demanded that the house be adjourned until senators from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are elected.
Gilani likely to become Senate chairman
PTI Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand objected to Dar presiding over the session, contending that a presiding officer should be someone who was already a senator.
Despite this, 41 newly elected lawmakers were then sworn in as members of the Senate.
Faisal Vawda and Maulana Abdul Wasay; however, were not present. The newly sworn-in senators then signed the roll of members one by one.
Speaking on the floor of the house, PTI leader Senator Ali Zafar called for postponing the Senate election as the “whole process would be unconstitutional till the house is complete” and because Article 59 of the constitution needs 96 members to be present in the house to pick the body’s chairman.
“Until the senators from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are duly elected and present here, we will not accept this illegal election,” he said and also announced that the PTI would not participate in the election for the top slots.
Federal Law Minister Azam Tarar emphasised that Article 60 of the constitution calls for elections for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman positions as soon as these key positions become vacant.
He regretted the reasons behind the Senate elections’ postponement in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but said that there was no natural disaster to blame.
“For constitutional purposes, the house is complete,” he added.
Additionally, he held the PTI accountable for putting up barriers to the KP senate election, which led to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delaying the polls. Dar rendered his decision after the minister provided a legal justification.
“In the light of the explanation given by the law minister, with reference to provisions of the constitution, the objection is overruled,” declared Dar.
The soft-spoken Gilani, who holds a Master’s degree in journalism, started his political career with the PML as a member of the central working committee in 1978 during General Ziaul Haq’s tenure.
He was the federal minister for housing from 1985 to 1988 and later went on to become the minister for railways but resigned after developing differences.
Later, he joined late Benazir Bhutto’s PPP and has since remained loyal to it through thick and thin even after her tragic assassination in 2007.
During the then president Gen Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorial regime, Gilani was also jailed in 2001 on charges of making illegal appointments while speaker of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997, during Benazir Bhutto’s second term as prime minister.
He was also disqualified as prime minister for five years in 2012 by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after he refused to write a letter to Swiss Courts.
Speaking in the house after his oath-taking as chairman Senate, Gilani thanked his party and the coalition partners including PML-N, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Awami National Party (ANP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), National Party (NP), and Balochistan National Party-Mengal.
Recalling the hanging of ex-prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a visibly emotional Gilani noted that the Supreme Court recently “acknowledged the judicial murder and admitted this historical injustice”.
“In prevalent circumstances, we’re facing a deep crisis. Pakistan faces an assault of those who seek to divide and polarise us, those who seek to incite hatred, those who seek to replace norms of civility and abuse democracy,” he added.
“The PPP has always rejected politics of hate and preferred politics of reconciliation and of the welfare of the people,” he stated.
“I will be the chairman of the Senate of the entire house and my ambition is to build bridges, enable dialogue and provide a space which allows for meaningful, robust discussion and disagreements within the norms of parliamentary conventions and most importantly, for the progress of the country,” he maintained.
He then announced Nasir’s win as Senate deputy chairman as only one nomination had been filed.
PML-N’s Azam Nazeer Tarar and PPP’s Sherry Rehman had nominated Nasir, Gilani said.
Subsequently, the Senate chairman administered the oath of office to Nasir. The session was adjourned sine die.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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