MQM resignations can’t be accepted: Senate chairman

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Monday refused to accept the resignations of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmakers, citing relevant laws. He was giving a ruling on the resignations tendered by the MQM senators in August this year.
Rabbani said en-mass resignations would be presumed prima facie in furtherance of a political purpose and not for the primary purpose of relinquishing the office as member of the Senate.
He said the chairman Senate also had to verify that the resignation tendered by a member was genuine, voluntary and intended to vacate the seat.
He said the process on individual resignation should come into motion in one week from the date of receving resignation at the Chairman’s Secretariat. However, in the case of en-mass resignations, the process would begin after completion of 40 consecutive days of the Senate sittings from the date of receving the resignations.
In his ruling, Rabbani cited various clauses of the Constitution and Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012 about acceptance or otherwise of the resignations of senators.
He said the ruling was not binding upon the other House of Parliament and provincial assemblies but it might be used as a guideline if they so desired.
The MQM lawmakers resigned from both houses of parliament and the Sindh Assembly, saying the party was being “victimised’ in the garb of the ongoing operation against criminals in Karachi.
Meanwhile, presiding over a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Senate at the Parliament House here before the commencement of the 120th session of the house, Rabbani said institutions should not be compartmentalised or polarised, but there should be bridges of communication at various levels, which can be built through interaction, dialogue and traditions.
He said the tradition of intra-institutional communications was a missing part of the history of this country.
He further said the Senate of Pakistan wanted to take a lead in establishing linkages between the state institutions in order to initiate intra-institutional dialogue between the pillars of the state which can result in a strong Federation.
As a first step in this regard, he accepted an invitation to deliver a lecture at the Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 5th, 2015.
This would be an ongoing feature to develop harmonised relations between parliament, the judiciary, the executive and other institutions.
It was further agreed that to enable the Upper House to become an actual representative of the federating units to play an effective role in solving the provincial issues, a comprehensive proposal with a focused agenda will be brought up in the next meeting to develop linkages with provinces and federal territories.
The proposal will be formulated in line with the international best practices after holding consultative meetings with the chief ministers and other stakeholders.
Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Chief Whip PML-N Senator Saleem Zia, Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Senator Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Senator Hidayatullah, Aftab Ahmed Sheikh and Secretary Senate Amjad Pervez Malik was also present in the meeting.