ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and PML-N’s Syedal Khan Nasir were elected uncontested as the Senate chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, on Tuesday.
Their election took place during a session where 41 newly elected senators were sworn in as members of the Upper House of Parliament amidst a noisy protest by the PTI, which had opted out of the election.
Senator Ali Zafar, speaking on behalf of the PTI, argued on the floor of the House that the session for electing the chairman and deputy chairman should be postponed until after Senate elections were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Consequently, PTI announced their non-participation in the election for the top positions.
About a month ago, the Upper House had become non-functional following the retirement of half of its members.
On April 2, elections for vacant Senate seats were held in Islamabad, Punjab, and Sindh, but not in PTI-ruled KP, where polls were delayed on 11 seats due to the provincial assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati’s refusal to administer the oath to opposition lawmakers on reserved seats. These seats were distributed among PPP, PML-N, and other parties after the ECP rejected a plea by PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council for the allocation of these seats.
However, the ruling coalition in the Centre, led by PML-N, won the elections, securing 19 seats. Currently, the coalition controls 59 out of 85 seats.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who had won a technocrat seat from Islamabad on April 2, chaired today’s session which commenced shortly after 9 am.
PTI Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand objected to Dar presiding over the session, arguing that the presiding officer should already be a senator.
Despite objections, 41 newly elected lawmakers were sworn in as members of the Senate. Faisal Vawda and Maulana Abdul Wasay were absent. The newly sworn-in senators then signed the roll of members individually.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
