Veteran Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was elected unopposed as chairman of the Senate on Tuesday, as lawmakers from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party boycotted the elections to the key posts in the upper house of Parliament.
Saidal Khan Nasir of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was also elected as the deputy chairman.
No one had filed nomination papers against the two candidates supported by the ruling alliance led by the PML-N.
The Senate met amidst protest by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers who were demanding that the session should be postponed until the election of senators from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province where polling was scheduled to be held on April 2 but postponed due to the controversy over the oath of members elected on reserved seats.
Subsequently, PTI boycotted the elections of chairman and deputy chairman Senate.
Early this month, elections were held in Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh, but not in PTI-ruled KP province - where Senate polls were delayed on 11 seats due to provincial assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati’s refusal to administer the oath to opposition lawmakers on reserved seats. These seats were allotted to the PPP, PML-N, and other parties after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected a plea by the PTI and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) for the allocation of these seats.
After the session began, 41 newly-elected senators were administered oaths. The total strength of the Senate is 96, but currently, only 85 senators are its members as elections for 11 senators from KP are still pending.
With the election of the chairman and his deputy, the ruling alliance further solidified its grip on power as now it controls both Houses of Parliament.
After taking oath as the Senate chairman, Gilani, 71, addressed the Senate, saying that Pakistan faced an assault by “those who sought to divide and polarise us, those who sought to incite hatred, those who sought to replace norms of stability and abuse democracy.” “Of the many crises we confront, the most dangerous is an attempt to sow hatred amongst us, toxic polarisation and incitement of violence,” the new Senate chairman said.
Gilani, who was prime minister from 2008 to 2012, said his ambition was to build bridges, enable dialogue and provide space for disagreements within the parliamentary norms for the progress of the country.
He said the senators presented the unity of the federation, adding that the Senate represented the diversity and strength of the nation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated and conveyed his best wishes to Gilani and Nasir. The premier noted that elections of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman are a continuation of the democratic process.
“It is hoped that you will play your role for the upliftment of the Constitution and the development of the country,” Shehbaz said.
He also expressed hope for the active participation of the newly elected chairman and deputy chairman in crafting impactful legislation to promote public welfare and foster national progress and prosperity, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
The Senate is the upper house of Pakistan’s bicameral Parliament. The senators are elected for six-and-a-half-year with half of the house up for election every three years. They are elected by the provincial and National Assemblies.
Almost a month ago, the Upper House became dysfunctional following the retirement of half of its members.
Gilani and Nashir’s election to the coveted posts is the result of a post-poll power-sharing deal between PML-N and PPP that effectively sidelined Khan’s PTI.
Under this arrangement, PPP retained the esteemed offices of the president, the Senate’s chairman, and deputy speaker of the National Assembly, alongside governorships in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In exchange, PML-N secured the coveted offices of prime minister, National Assembly speaker, deputy chairman Senate, and governorships in Sindh and Balochistan.
