Kakar, Vawda decide to stay ‘neutral’ in Senate

ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Faisal Vawda have decided against joining treasury or opposition benches in the Senate, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

The Senate Secretariat issued a notification regarding six independent senators who chose their sides whether to join the government or the opposition benches in the upper house of parliament.

Two out of six independent legislators, Kakar and Vawda, decided against joining any side of the aisle in the Senate, as per the notification.

Subsequently, Senator Mohsin Naqvi, who is also holding the portfolio of federal interior minister and part of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) led government in the Centre, was also undecided about joining any side of the Senate benches so far.

However, Naqvi’s name was mentioned as a senator on the treasury bench with an additional note of “(Federal Minister, however, not yet opted)”.

Alongside Naqvi, Senator Abdul Qadir decided to join the treasury bench. The lawmaker had joined the PTI but later he decided to quit after May 9, 2022, riots. Two independent senators — Abdul Shakoor Khan and Naseema Ehsan — joined the opposition benches, according to the Senate Secretariat. It is pertinent to mention here Kakar had stepped down as senator following his nomination as the caretaker premier in August last year.

Moreover, the former PTI leader Vawda also won the general seat of the upper house during the April 2 Senate polls after the Pakistan Peoples Party withdrew its candidate Sarfaraz Rajar and decided to support the former.

The ruling coalition swept the Senate elections with the Bilawal-led party taking lead with 11 seats and the Nawaz-led party clinching six seats.

Additionally, the Muttahida Qaudmi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and an independent candidate Vawda secured one seat each.