ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the Senate on Tuesday challenged the legality of legislation passed by an incomplete parliament, raising concerns over constitutional violations and procedural irregularities.
Speaking on a point of order on the last day of the Senate’s parliamentary year, Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz criticised what he called a series of constitutional defiance that had created legal complications and controversies.
Mr Faraz pointed out that under Article 59 of the Constitution, the Senate must consist of 96 members, each serving a six-year term. However, the house had remained incomplete for over a year due to the non-holding of Senate elections for 11 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The house is incomplete, yet key legislative actions, including the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman, have been carried out. How can these elections be valid when the house itself is not duly constituted?” he questioned.
Reading Article 60, he said that “the term of the office of the chairman or deputy chairman shall be three years from the day on which he enters in his office”. However, both officials took the oath on April 8, 2024, but their tenure would end on March 10, 2027, creating an unexplained 20-day gap in their official term.
Citing Article 218, the opposition leader said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to conduct the Senate election in KP. He said Article 224 stated that the election would be held on a vacant Senate within 30 days, adding that Senator Sania Nishtar’s case was a classic example of the violation of this article as her resignation was accepted after over five months.
He added that these violations invited the trial of the chief election commissioner and even Senate members under Article 6, which deals with high treason.
He claimed that the non-representation of senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa makes the Senate incomplete, which not only violates the constitutional scheme but also renders elections to the offices of the president and Senate chairman and deputy chairman unconstitutional.
He said the non-election of KP senators has denied the province its right to field candidates for the office of chairman and deputy chairman. He also wondered how KP senators would be elected for six years under the Constitution if one year had already gone by. Their term will end in five years if elections are held today. This will again create a constitutional dilemma.
Law minister defends govt’s stance
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, in his response, said the electoral watchdog had scheduled Senate elections for all four provinces, but the KP Assembly speaker and chief minister belonging to PTI refused to summon the session necessary to administer the oath to members elected on reserved seats.
“Reasons for this were not legal and constitutional but political in nature,” he said, adding that session was not summoned even on the orders of the Peshawar High Court. As a result, the election of the Senate in KP could not be held, he said.
Mr Tarar argued that Senate chairman and deputy chairman elections were held with a majority of the total membership, which was sufficient under the Constitution. He dismissed concerns about an incomplete house, stating that constitutional provisions did not require a full-strength Senate for these elections to proceed.
He insisted that the dissolution of the National Assembly by the PTI-backed President Arif Alvi in April 2022 on the advice of the then prime minister Imran Khan was a fit case of Article 6, but the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government avoided doing this.
However, Senator Shibli Faraz rejected the law minister’s justification, insisting that the government’s legal position was flawed.
Meanwhile, Presiding Officer Senator Irfan Siddiqui read out a clarification from the Senate Secretariat regarding Senator Sania Nishtar’s resignation, which had been cited as an example of constitutional violations.
According to the clarification, her resignation had been submitted on Oct 28, 2023, but was delayed due to the requirement of physical verification. “No mala fide can be attributed to the constitutional and legal process,” it added.
Another highlight of the session was PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz’s plea to complete the unfinished agenda before the conclusion of the parliamentary year.
He sought the declaration of the vote count on the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, which had been withheld by the deputy chairman.
