Senate precincts, secretariat fall in secretary’s domain

ISLAMABAD: The secretary of the Senate is the custodian and overall in-charge of the secretariat of the Upper House of Parliament, its bureaucracy and security matters under the rules.

The presiding officer nominated by the president, Syed Muzaffar Shah of the Grand Democratic Alliance in this case, only regulated the proceedings of election of the Senate chairman and his deputy. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had nothing to do with this electoral exercise.

In the absence of the chairman and deputy chairman, the secretary assumed complete control of the Senate secretariat and building.

As per the Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business in the Senate, the presiding officer was assisted by the secretary and his subordinate staff in the conduct of the election of the chairman and deputy chairman.

In this process, the secretary was under the presiding officer’s command. However, the presiding officer had no powers to exercise before the process started and after it concluded. Since the presiding officer was empowered to ensure that the process was carried out fairly, justly and transparently, he first ordered the secretary to carry out an inquiry into the discovery of concealed cameras in the polling booth. Later, he changed his ruling and directed the formation of a bipartisan Senate committee to investigate the episode.

The presiding officer’s assignment was limited to the electoral process for just a few hours while the secretary has regular official status and is in command of all the affairs of the Senate premises.

Even in normal circumstances, entry to the parliament building and its portions controlled by the Senate and National Assembly secretariats is possible only with due permission. However, on occasions like the election of the Senate chairman, special security measures are put in place to avoid gate-crashing by any person without the required authorization.

The secretary has another duty to perform. If at any time during a sitting of the Senate neither the chairman nor his deputy nor any member on the panel is present, he will then inform the Senate, which will, by a motion, elect one of the members present to preside over the sitting.

Under the rules, yet another job of the secretary is to receive the nomination paper, signed by a senator and accompanied by a statement by the member whose name is proposed for election as the chairman, that he is willing to serve as chairman, if elected.

As far as the security of the Senate premises is concerned, it is the task of the sergeant-at-arms, but this official and his subordinates work under the secretary.

Rules say that “for the purpose of enforcing the orders of the Chairman, there will be a Sergeant-at-Arms to be assisted by such staff or officials subordinate to him as may be necessary. On a production order, signed by the secretary or by any other officer authorized by the Chairman, addressed to the federal or provincial government where the member is held in custody, or to the authority having or holding custody of the member, the concerned government or such other authority will cause the member in custody to be produced before the Sergeant-at-Arms who will, after the conclusion of the sitting or the meeting, deliver the member into the custody of the government or other authority.”

According to the rules, at the first meeting of the Senate, after the members have taken oath and to the exclusion of any other business including privilege and adjournment motions, the Senate will proceed to elect from amongst its members a Chairman, and so often as the chairman’s office becomes vacant the Senate will elect another member as its chief.

“The first meeting of the Senate for the chairman’s election will be presided over by the outgoing chairman or, in his absence, by a person nominated by the President, for the purpose, as the presiding officer. However, no person will chair the meeting for the election in which he himself is a candidate. Same will be followed in the case of the deputy chairman.

“It is the job of the presiding officer to read out to the Senate the names of the members who have been duly nominated and have not withdrawn their candidature, as also the names of their proposers, and, if there is only one such member, will declare that member to have been elected.”