The Pakistan Senate finds itself in a state of turmoil as more than half of its members retired on Monday night, leaving the upper house of parliament in a challenging situation for the next three weeks, according to a report by Dawn.
Typically, the Senate undergoes turnover every three years, as the six-year term of a senator concludes, prompting prompt elections to fill the resulting vacancies. However, an unprecedented delay in conducting general elections has led to this unique predicament.
The failure of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to organize timely general elections has left the Senate in disarray, as reported by Dawn. The ECP has announced that polling to fill 48 vacancies will take place on April 2, with the election schedule set to be issued shortly.
Notably, four seats previously reserved for the erstwhile tribal areas will not be part of the elections, as they have been abolished following their merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the 25th Amendment.
The upcoming elections will witness contests for seven general seats, two women’s seats, two technocrat/ulema seats from each province, and two seats reserved for non-Muslims. Additionally, two senators will be elected from the Islamabad Capital Territory, one in the general category and the other in the technocrat/ulema category.
The retirements include prominent figures such as Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Mohammad Afridi, Leader of the House Ishaq Dar, and Leader of the Opposition Shahzad Wasim. Notably, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will lose only seven senators out of those retiring, including the opposition leader, Azam Swati, Faisal Javed Khan, and Walid Iqbal.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will experience significant changes, with 12 out of 21 PPP senators and 11 of 16 PML-N lawmakers set to conclude their tenures. From the PML-N, notable retirees include Ishaq Dar, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Asif Kirmani, Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, among others.
