Ruling coalition retains 27 seats, opposition 19: Draw held to retire 50pc senators
By Ahmed Hassan
ISLAMABAD Jan 2: The ruling coalition parties in the Senate on Monday retained 27 seats and the combined opposition parties 19 for the next three years — till March 2009 — in a draw held to retire half the strength of the 100-seat upper chamber of parliament.
The senators losing in the draw are set to retire on March 11 after fresh elections are held to bring in 50 new senators.
The draw was held on 98 seats as a decision on the remaining two had already been taken in accordance with the provisions of the 17th Amendment.
Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar oversaw the exercise, conducted in line with the Article 59 of the Constitution to determine three- and six-year terms of senators.
The CEC announced holding elections on the 50 vacant seats in the first week of March, so as to allow the newly-elected senators to take oath of their office on March 12.
He told newsmen that the schedule for election to fill the vacant seats will be announced on January 17-18.
Four provincial assemblies will elect their allotted number of senators whereas Fata MNAs will perform this function for their territory, he said.
The Pakhtoonkhwah Milli Awami Party succeeded in retaining both of its seats whereas PPP Parliamentarians suffered the most as it lost 7 out of 11 senators, followed by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) which lost 13 out of 22.
The ruling PML scored a gain by retaining 21 out of 34 seats. MQM lost three out of 6, PML (Nawaz) lost one out of four, and ANP lost one out of two seats.
Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of his own faction of JUI who was expelled from the MMA in its last supreme council meeting, retained his seat.
Federal Ministers Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, Ajmal Khan, Justice (retd) Abdur Razzaq Thaheem, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, and Muhammad Ali Durrani (Special Assistant with status of a federal minister) and State Ministers Dr Shahzad Wasim and Tariq Azeem lost their seats.
Babar Ghauri, Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli and Naseer Mengal retained their seats.
The retirement of seven federal and state ministers prompted speculation about a possible reshuffle in the federal cabinet because some retiring senators might lose in the fresh election or fail to win party ticket.
Senate chairman Muhammadmian Soomro and PML secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Syed retained their seats while leader of the house Wasim Sajjad and leader of opposition Mian Raza Rabbani lost their seats.
Before the draw, the government coalition enjoyed support of 55 senators as against the combined opposition’s 45.
The strength of the Senate till 1999 was 87, which was increased to 100 by the General Musharraf government through the Legal Framework Order in March 2002.
Under the amendment, leader of the house Wasim Sajjad will stand retired (without ballot) on March 11 while Mrs Tahira Latif, another treasury senator, will continue for next three years.
The draw for determining the term of senators was held province-wise, starting with Balochistan and followed by Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP, Fata and Islamabad Capital Territory.
In Balochistan, PML(Q) lost five and retained five, MMA lost three and retained three, PKMP retained both, while BNP-A, BNM and JWP lost one seat each which they had.
The atmosphere during the proceedings remained congenial and tension-free as senators cheered and applauded colleagues retaining or losing seats.
All eyes are set on the fresh elections for the 50 seats fallen vacant as the draw appears to have tilted the balance in the ruling coalition’s favour.
The PML has already set up a seven-member high-powered parliamentary board to be chaired by party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain which may decide to retain the sitting senators when it picks party nominees for fresh elections, party insiders claim.
The MMA and ARD may also mull over a joint strategy to go into fresh Senate elections as they were already due to meet on January 17 to finalize their anti-government campaign.
