Ishaq Dar, Rabbani among 52 senators to retire in March

ISLAMABAD: As many as 52 senators are set to retire after their six-year term ends in March 2018.

Those who are set to bid adieu to the Upper House are 12 each from Punjab and Sindh, 11 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, two from Islamabad and four from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) — will retire on March 11 next year.

Prominent among those who will retire include Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Farhatullah Babar, Azam Swati, Kamran Michael, Shahi Syed, Kamil Ali Agha, Talha Mehmood, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Nasreen Jalil and Ilyas Bilour.

Eighteen of the 52 senators belong to the Pakistan People Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P), nine to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), five are from the Awami National Party (ANP), four each belong to Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), three to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), two to Balochistan National Party-A (BNP-A), and one each to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F). Five independents will also complete their tenure next year, according to the Senate website.

The PML-Q will have no representation in the house after March as all its four senators will retire.

The senators from Punjab who will retire next year nclude M. Hamza (PML-N), Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q), Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari independent), Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla (PML-N), Saud Majeed (PML-N) in place of Malik Rafique Rajwana, Sardar Zulfikar Khosa (PML-N), Asif Saeed Kirmani (PML-N) in place of Dr Babar Awan, Aitzaz Ahsan (PPP-P), Mohammad Ishaq Dar (PML-N), Khalida Parveen (PPP-P), Nuzhat Sadiq (PML-N) and Kamran Micheal (PML-N).

The 12 senators who will complete their six-year tenure from Sindh are: Murtaza Wahab (PPP-P) in place of Saeed Ghani (PPP-P), retired Col Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (MQM), Karim Ahmed Khawaja (PPP-P), Maulana Tanveerul Haq Thanvi (MQM) in place of Mustafa Kamal, Raza Rabbani (PPP-P), Mukhtar Ahmed Dhamrah (PPP-P), Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah (PML-F), Muhammad Farogh Naseem (MQM), Taj Haider (PPPP) in place of Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Nasreen Jalil (MQM), Saher Kamran (PPP-P) and Hari Ram (PPP-P).

The 11 retiring senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be Ahmed Hassan (PPPP), Baz Muhammad Khan (ANP), Haji Saifullah Khan Bangash (PPP-P), Azam Khan Swati (PTI), Muhammad Talha Mehmood (JUI-F), Nisar Muhammad (PML-N), Shahi Syed (ANP), Farhatullah Babar (PPP-P), Ilyas Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Rubina Khalid (PPP-P) and Zahida Khan (ANP).

Four senators from Fata — Hidayatullah, Hilalur Rehman, Malik Najmul Hassan and Muhammad Saleh Shah (Independents) — and two from Islamabad — Osman Saifullah (PPP-P) and Mushahid Hussain Sayed (PML-Q) — will also retire next year.

The senators from Balochistan who will complete their term are: Muhammad Daud Khan Achakzai (ANP), Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah (JUI-F), Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri (BNP-A), Muhammad Yousuf (PPP-P), Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi (PPPP), Saeedul Hassan Mandokhel (PML-N), Sardar Fateh Muhammad Muhammad Hasni (PPP-P), Mufti Abdul Sattar (JUI-F), Rozi Khan Kakar (PPP-P), Naseema Ehsan (BNP-A) and Rubina Irfan (PML-N).