Past practice to be followed in today’s Senate polls, says ECP

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said due to time constraints, the Senate election today (Wednesday) will be conducted “as per past practice” prescribed in the Constitution and law.

The commission decided this in a meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. ECP members Justice (retd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, Justice (retd) Irshad Qasir, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Nisar Ahmed Durrani attended the meeting.

The decision came a day after the Supreme Court gave its opinion on a presidential reference requesting its perspective on whether or not open balloting could be held in today’s election. The court ruled that the Senate elections will be held via secret ballot according to Article 226 of the Constitution. It also suggested the ECP make use of technology to prevent corrupt practices.

According to an ECP statement, the commission, after deliberating over the Supreme Court’s opinion, decided to implement it “in letter and spirit”. “The ECP is taking all possible steps and measures to fulfil its constitutional obligations for checking corrupt practices in the Senate elections,” it said.

The electoral body said it so far had not received the detailed order of the apex court, but in its short order, it had mentioned the ECP should use technology and develop mechanisms under Article 218(3) of the Constitution. He said the ECP could hire services of some “technical organisations” for the matter.

“The Commission is of the view that input may be taken from different professional/ technical organisations which may help to conclude upon it. The Commission decided to constitute a committee in this regard comprising of Special Secretary as Convenor, Director General (IT), Member and Saeed Gul, JPEC, Punjab, Member,” it said.

The committee could also seek assistance from the National Database and Registration Authority, Federal Investigation Agency and information ministry, the statement said, adding any person from the following organisations could “step into it or co-opt it for giving better recommendations”.

Three provincial assemblies and the National Assembly will elect 37 senators today, while the Punjab Assembly already elected 11 senators unopposed. Twelve candidates each from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), while 11 from Sindh and two from the federal capital will be elected senators.

In federal capital, a high-stakes contest between finance minister Hafeez Sheikh and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will be held for a general seat, while PTI’s Fauzia Arshad and PML-N’s Farzana Kausar would contest for a woman’s seat.

In Balochistan, 32 candidates will vie for 12 seats, including 16 for seven general seats and four for two technocrat seats. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 candidates remain in the contest for seven general seats, five candidates for two technocrats’ seats, five for the women’s seats and four for a minorities’ seat.

In Sindh, a total of 17 candidates remain in the contest — 10 for seven general seats, four for two technocrats’ seats and three for the two women’s seats.

Out of total membership of 104 in Upper House at present, three seats are lying vacant in Senate due to death of PML-N Parliamentary leader Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan, resignation of ANP Senator Sitara Ayaz and non-assumption of the office by Ishaq Dar after being elected as senator.

The Senate of Pakistan at present consists of 104 members and elections to fill seats in the Senate allocated to each province are held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

The Senate is not subject to dissolution, but the term of its members is six years. Half of the Senate members retire after every three years and new ones are elected to replace them.

However, the Constitution (Twenty-fifth Amendment) has abolished eights Fata seats, reducing the total number of seats in Senate from 104 to 96. However, the senators elected in 2015 and in 2018 — prior to the enactment of 25th Amendment—were to continue their respective terms till 2021 and 2024. Former Fata senators used to be elected by the 12 Fata members of the National Assembly.

However, there will not be an election on the Fata seats this year. Four Fata senators are retiring after completing their terms on March 11. These four seats will cease to exist, bringing the total number of Senate members to 100 after today’s elections.

Among the 52 Senators retiring on March 11, 2021, 14 Senators belong to PML-N, seven to PPP, and seven to PTI.

Ahead of the vote, accountability courts have allowed PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and senior PML-N lawmaker Khawaja Asif to go to Islamabad to cast their vote in the Senate elections.

Meanwhile, PTI lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly got into a physical altercation with “rebel” party members during an assembly session after their refusal to vote for the PTI candidates Faisal Vawda and Saifullah Abro in the Senate elections, Geo News reported.

The three MPAs, Aslam Abro, Shehryar Shar and Karim Bakhsh Gabol, had earlier announced that they will vote as per their “conscience”. When the PTI members entered the Sindh Assembly, they were attacked by the PTI MPAs, resulting in chaos. Video recorded in the assembly showed chaotic scenes as lawmakers shoved and grappled with each other. PPP MPs also got involved in an attempt to disentangle the lawmakers.

Later, Aslam Abro spoke to the media and said they have made it clear to everyone that they will not vote along the party lines. He alleged that Senate tickets were sold and that they do not agree with the selection of Saifullah Abro and Faisal Vawda.