ISLAMABAD, APR 8: The PTI on Monday sought to delay the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman until after polls were held on vacant seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Five PTI senators filed a plea in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and also wrote a letter to the Senate secretary.
Elections for 30 vacant Senate seats were scheduled to be held on April 2. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had delayed polls on 11 seats from KP following a continuing controversy over the oath-taking of opposition lawmakers on reserved seats.
However, polls still went ahead on 19 seats, which saw the ruling coalition clinching all. Following the election, the total strength house increased from 66 to 85, with 59 seats going to the ruling coalition, led by PML-N. The clean sweep also put the ruling alliance in a comfortable position to get any legislation passed from both houses of Parliament.
Late last night, President Asif Ali Zardari summoned a fresh session of the Senate on April 9 (tomorrow). It is expected that polls for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman will be held during tomorrow’s session.
It should be mentioned that earlier the president had appointed Ishaq Dar, who had won on a technocrat seat from Islamabad on April 2, as the presiding officer for the first session of the upper house of Parliament.
In the plea filed in the IHC today, Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Falak Naz, Fawzia Arshad, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Niazi and Saifullah Abro named the ECP, the president and the Senate secretariat as the respondents.
The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, noted that elections on vacant Senate seats were not held on April 2 and were postponed.
It said that the ECP notification delaying polls in KP was issued without “lawful authority” and “in violation of the Constitution in as much as the ECP has now announced to hold elections to the offices of the chairman and deputy chairman”.
It further said that it was “widely reported that on April 9 a session of an incomplete Senate has been [called] to hold elections” for the Senate top slots.
It contended that the elections for the slots could not be held without holding polls for the vacant seats in KP.
“Under Article 60 of the Constitution, the election to offices of chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate can only be held after the Senate has been duly constituted,” the petition said. “Any election for the offices of chairman and deputy chairman in the absence of a duly constituted Senate shall be void,” it added.
The petition said that the postponement of polls in KP by the electoral watchdog was “yet another ugly manifestation of disregard for the Constitution”. It insisted that it was imperative for elections to be carried out for vacant seats in KP and to be duly notified before a session could be summoned for electing the chairman and deputy chairman.
The petition urged the IHC to set aside the ECP notification delaying polls in KP and for the schedule of these elections to be announced and for them to be subsequently held.
It also requested that elections for Senate chairman and deputy chairman “scheduled to be held on April 9” be postponed until after polls were held in KP.
However, the IHC registrar’s office raised an objection on the PTI’s plea. It said that the Peshawar High Court (PHC) was hearing a case pertaining to the polls on vacant Senate seats from KP. It told the party to approach the PHC instead.
PTI writes to Senate secretary
Separately, the same five senators submitted a letter to the Senate secretary, which also requested to postpone the elections for the chairman and deputy chairman.
The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, called for not initiating the process for elections to the top slots until the total number in the upper house of Parliament reached 96 and polls were held in KP.
“It is imperative that we adhere to the constitutional requirements to maintain the integrity and legitimacy of the state,” it said.
“Kindly address this matter with utmost urgency and diligence so that there is no deviation from the constitutional provisions,” it said.
“We look forward to a prompt and appropriate response to postpone the elections of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman till Senate elections are held in KP as per the Constitution of Pakistan.
“Since you are the custodian of the House in the absence of the chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate, the responsibility of upholding the Constitution lies with you,” the letter concluded.
