ELECTIONS to the upper house of parliament in Pakistan have often been controversial as charges of buying and selling of loyalties are traded by all parties. Senate, it is not wrong to say, has turned into a group of rich individuals looking to have a symbol of prestige associated with their names. Various political parties have at different times tried to stop this practice, but none has ever been able to end this menace.

I think the government should consider setting up a new ‘Businessmen’s Senate’ with, say, 50 seats. The regular Senate elections should be conducted through open ballot, while the selection of ‘Businessmen Senators’ should be done on the basis of the size of ‘donations’.

The donations should be paid to the national exchequer and they should be utilised exclusively for development projects in the respective area of the ‘selected’ individual.

The new ‘Businessmen Senate’ will comprise the richest and the most skilled businessmen, and will work on business-related policies and laws, with all its proposals being discussed by the regular parliament.

Shahryar Khan
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2021