PTI questions legality of 'incomplete' 96-member Senate

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Tuesday raised questions over the legality and sanctity of the “incomplete” 96-member Senate and the tenure of its chairman and deputy chairman, as the legislature held its last sitting of the parliamentary year.

The party’s senators also called for the announcement of the withheld result of voting on the SBP (Amendment) Bill.

At one point, Law and Justice Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the dissolution of National Assembly by the PTI-backed president Arif Alvi in April 2022 on the advice of then prime minister Imran Khan was a fit case of Article 6, but the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government took a political decision and avoided filing so.

On a point of public importance, Leader of Opposition and senior PTI leader Syed Shibli Faraz contended that some legal questions would continue to haunt until they are answered while the House was going to complete its parliamentary year. “If we look at the report card of the year as to what good or bad happened, then some of the questions are strictly about the legality and sanctity of the House, which is called the House of the Federation”.

While referring to Article 59 of the Constitution, he insisted that the Senate is incomplete for a year and argued that the article states that the Senate shall consist of 96 members and the term of its members shall be for six years.

Then, reading out Article 60, Shibli said that “the term of the office of the chairman or deputy chairman shall be three years from the day on which he enters in his office”; the House was not duly constituted because elections on 11 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were yet to be held despite the passage of one-year.

He remarked, “How did you elect chairman and deputy chairman when the House was not duly constituted?” He continued that there was a question also about the term of Senate chairman and the deputy chairman, as both took oath of their offices on April 8 for a term of three years but their present term would be completed on March 10, 2027. He put up a question as to how the remaining period of 20 days would be adjusted to complete the period of full three years. Then he alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to conduct the Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and it clearly means neither the House was duly constituted nor the constitutional term of chairman and deputy chairman would be for three years. Similarly, he pointed out that the Senate members from KP would not be able to complete a full six-year term.

He said Article 224 states that the election would be held on a vacant Senate within 30 days, whereas Senator Sania Nishtar’s case was a classic example of the violation of this article as her resignation was accepted even after five months. Shibli also raised a question on the bills and 26th Constitutional Amendment passed by the House that was not duly constituted.

He asked Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar how they would rectify this violation of the entire constitutional scheme. He claimed that these violations invite trial of the chief election commissioner and even members of the House under Article 6.

Calling it a selective application of law and the Constitution, he said all the blatant violations were being committed only to victimise the PTI and its jailed founder Imran Khan. “This is not House of Federation, this is house of selected federation,” he said.

Law Minister Tarar rose to respond to the questions and said the electoral watchdog had scheduled Senate elections for all the four provinces but KP assembly speaker and chief minister belonging to PTI refused to summon the session necessary to administer oath from those members elected on reserved seats. “Reasons were not legal and constitutional but political; the session was not summoned even on the orders of the Peshawar High Court. As a result, the election of Senate in KP could not be held”.

The elections for the posts of Senate chairman and deputy chairman, he noted, were held following a ruling as the House had majority of total membership that was required for these polls. He also recalled that these polls were held in the past when elections of erstwhile FATA senators were postponed due to law & order situation. He said the Constitution had given certain number for any electoral process and did not mention the requirement that the House should be complete for the election; the election of Senate in KP was delayed due to the opposition and not the government and that the matter was pending before the Peshawar High Court and the election commission.

The minister claimed that all procedures from the constitution of Senate to the election of its chairman and deputy chairman were completed under the Constitution. He said the Leader of Opposition accepted his nomination for the slot after accepting the chairman Senate election, and the opposition and treasury even accepted the chairmanship of standing committees that were formed following the constitution of the present House. He insisted the House is validly constituted.

“If all this is unconstitutional, we should not have become part of this system. The Constitution explicitly states that senators from KP would be members of this House for the remaining term after their election and similarly, the chairman and deputy chairman would compete their term in the light of the ruling given before their election.”

Presiding Officer Senator Irfan Siddiqui reading out a clarification of the Senate Secretariat informed the House that Senator Nishar had tendered resignation on 28th October last year but she was not available for physical verification of her resignation as required under the Constitution. “No mala fide can be attributed to the constitutional and legal process,” it added.

An opposition member pointed out quorum. After counting, the House was found incomplete, bells were rung for two minutes, yet the required number of senators was not around, forcing the chair to read out the prorogation order.