ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Finance Advisor Shaukat Tarin got his nomination papers submitted in the Provincial Election Commission (PEC) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday for the Senate election, scheduled for December 20, on the KP seat vacated by Ayub Afridi from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) last month.

A counsel of Tarin submitted his nominations before the PEC in Peshawar. According to the documents, KP Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra is Tarin’s proposer and KP Higher Education Minister Kamran Bangash is his seconder.

On Monday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued election schedule for the KP Senate seat. According to the schedule, the date for filing nominations: November 30-December 2, publication of names of nominated candidates: December 3, scrutiny of nominations: December 6, appeals against acceptance/rejection of nominations: December 8, last date for disposal of appeals by the tribunal: December 10, publication of revised list of candidates: December 11 and last date for withdrawal of candidature: December 13. In 145-seat KP Assembly, PTI has large majority with 94 seats.

Afridi was appointed Prime Minister’s Advisor on Overseas Pakistanis last month after he stepped down from the Senate to create space for Tarin in the Senate. Federal government plans to get Tarin elected as a senator in order to appoint him as finance minister.

Tarin’s elevation as Member of Parliament (MP) is mandatory for him to get the ministerial portfolio. Tarin was appointed by Prime Minister Imran Khan as finance minister on April 16 this year and his six-month term started the next day, April 17, after he sworn in, in accordance with Article 91 (9) of the Constitution of Pakistan.

This article reads, “A minister, who, for any period of six consecutive months, is not a member of the National Assembly, shall, at the expiration of that period, cease to be a minister and shall not before the dissolution of that assembly be again appointed a minister unless he is elected a member of that assembly. Tarin’s ministerial term expired on October 16. Since then, he is performing duties as PM’s finance advisor.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021