SIC moves ECP to postpone Senate chairman, deputy chairman election

ISLAMABAD: The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Saturday filed a petition at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking the postponement of the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman amid the absence of Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ARY News reported.

Lawyer Hamid Khan filed the plea on behalf of the SIC where the petitioner sought the ECP to immediately hold the election for 11 Senate seats in the province.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed SIC urged to postpone the Senate chairman and deputy chairman election scheduled for April 9, saying that the Electoral College was incomplete without the KP Senate election.

It is pertinent to mention that the provincial election commissioner on April 2 postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the application of the opposition members.

The opposition members had moved the ECP as the dispute over the swearing-in of the KP Assembly’s opposition members elected to reserved seats remains unresolved.

Meanwhile, sources said that preparations were underway to summon the first session of the Senate on April 9 after the recent election of the house.

The newly elected senators will take oath in the Senate session, while the chairman and deputy chairman’s election will be held on the same day.

Sources privy to the matter said that President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has signed the summary of appointing Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as the presiding officer of the senate session on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Last month, PTI leader Azam Swati also filed a plea before the Peshawar High Court (PHC) challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone the Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Swati in his plea said that the ECP decided on the matter without hearing the candidates contesting the Senate election.

While the election for the Upper House was postponed in KP, the ruling coalition secured the majority of Senate seats from other provinces in the April 2 election.

Out of the 19 Senate seats up for grabs, the PML-N won six seats, the PPP won 11, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagged one seat.

The PML-N’s numbers in the 96-member House rose to 19 while the PPP’s members in the Senate reached 24.