PTI senator Ayub Afridi resigns for Tarin’s election

ISLAMABAD: PTI’s Ayub Afridi has resigned from the Senate to make way for the election of PM’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin as a member of the Parliament, Geo TV reported.

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has accepted Ayub Afridi’s resignation, who has now been inducted as a cabinet member. The Senate Secretariat has declared Ayub Afridi's seat vacant and issued a notification to which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also been informed.

As per the rules, when a seat falls vacant, the ECP is bound to hold elections on it within 30 days. According to sources, Ayub Afridi has been appointed as PM’s Adviser on Overseas Pakistanis.

Commenting on the development, Ayub Afridi said he submitted his resignation to the prime minister earlier but was asked to wait because of the joint meeting. “The prime minister entrusted me with the Senate seat and I returned it happily," he said.

Afridi said he would have no objection if the prime minister did not give him any official responsibility. “If given the opportunity by the prime minister I would serve the nation and the country,” Afridi added.

After failure to get Shaukat Tarin elected as a member of Parliament within the stipulated six-month time-frame, the government had appointed him as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenues with the status of Federal Minister on October 17.