Senate standing committees: Newly-selected chairmen awaiting official perks to start functioning

ISLAMABAD: The ‘independent’ senators aligned with or supporting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have bagged an unprecedentedly large number of slots for chairmen of the standing committees of the Upper House of Parliament.

Their seven slots have surpassed even those of major political parties like the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and PPP. They, however, trailed the PTI which stood first by clinching the largest number of nine posts. The selection of chairmen for 36 standing committees and two functional panels has now been officially notified.

The number of positions bagged by independents on the basis of their numerical strength speaks of their crucial role in dealing with the important matters that will come before the Senate in the days to come.

The Dilawar Khan group and the other independents actually belonging to the BAP bagged these positions presenting themselves as separate entities. One group had supported PPP leader Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in his successful bid for the office of the leader of the opposition against the PMLN candidate Azam Nazir Tarrar. A few days after this development, these BAP independents had voted for Sadiq Sanjrani in the race for the Senate chairman against Gilani.

The new chairmen are now awaiting the perks and privileges, including official cars and a generous free of charge fuel quota, attached with the position. Besides, they are yet to be provided their offices and staff.

“Unless these facilities are made available to the new heads of the standing and functional committees, these bodies will not become functional,” one of the chairmen told The News. He said that only after the availability of this paraphernalia, the House committees will start their work. “Already, their composition and selection of their chairmen have kept them suspended for a long time because of the disputes among parliamentary groups that had struggled to get the maximum posts.”

In terms of offices of the standing or functional committee chairmen, the PTI was followed by independents, then the PPP, which got six offices, the PMLN, which secured five slots. The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) took two berths each.

Four parties – the Awami National Party (ANP), PML-Functional, PMLQ and Jamaat-e-Islami – which have just one senator each, were successful in bagging one post of chairman each simply because the main parties which had got their support obliged them. With its three senators, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) bagged one slot apart from the federal law ministry (Dr Farogh Naseem), which is already with it.

The National Party of late Hasil Bizenjo and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNPM) got one position each. Three women, Sherry Rehman and Rubina Khalid of the PPP and Seemee Ezdi of the PTI, managed to win slots.

The independents got the chairmanships of the standing committees for the ministries of aviation, poverty alleviation and social safety, States and Frontier regions, information technology and telecommunication, defence production, privatisation and petroleum.

The PTI nominees were made chairmen of the committees for the ministries of interior, law and justice, human rights, climate change, commerce, power, narcotics control, national health services, and information and broadcasting.

The PPP senators became chairman of the committees on foreign affairs, maritime affairs, planning, development and special initiatives, delegated legislation, parliamentary affairs and inter-provincial coordination.

The PMLN representatives were selected as the chairmen for the ministries of defence, education, professional, training and national history and culture, water resources, Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the cabinet division.

The BAP got the chairmanship of communications and overseas Pakistanis and human resources development while the JUIF nominees were made heads of the committee for finance, revenue and economic affairs and religious affairs and interfaith harmony.

The National Party was given chairmanship of the standing committee for rules of procedures and privileges; PMLF for national food security and research; ANP for housing and works; Jamaat-e-Islami for devolution (functional committee); MQM for industries and production; PMLQ for government assurances (functional committee), and BNPM for railways.