ISLAMABAD: Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has taken charge as the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) without formally resigning from the Senate, creating legal complications for the Senate Secretariat as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), sources told Dawn on Monday.

According to sources in the Senate Secretariat, Chairman Raza Rabbani has finally given his consent to the secretariat to issue a notification declaring the seat vacant without waiting for Mr Jhagra’s resignation. The secretariat has been asked instead to declare the seat vacant in light of the notification issued by the Cabinet Division regarding Mr Jhagra’s appointment as KP Governor.

According to the constitution, the ECP is bound to hold elections on a vacant Senate seat within 30 days. A number of aspirants for the PML-N ticket for the seat said they were still waiting for the ECP to announce the vacancy as well as the election schedule.

On the other hand, an ECP official said his organisation could not do the same without receiving intimation from the Senate Secretariat.

From KP to Islamabad and back, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra’s recent political moves have been mired in controversy

Mr Jhagra was elected as senator on a general seat from Islamabad Capital Territory last year amidst controversy over his nomination. Under the constitution, a candidate for the Senate seat is required to be a registered voter in the province from where he or she is contesting the election.

At the time, Mr Jhagra had got his vote transferred from Peshawar to Islamabad to enable him to contest the election, which he won due to the PML-N’s majority in the National Assembly.

Article 101 of the Constitution says that “a person shall not be appointed a governor unless he is qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly, is not less than 35 years of age and is a registered voter and resident of the province concerned”.

Sources in the Senate Secretariat said that Mr Jhagra must have got his vote transferred to KP from Islamabad before taking oath as provincial governor, adding that his Senate seat from Islamabad would automatically become vacant on the day of transfer of his vote.

The source made it clear that since the Secretariat had no intention to make it an issue, the ultimate outcome of the whole exercise would be the declaration of the seat as vacant within 24 hours.

Despite repeated attempts, KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra could not be contacted for comment.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2016