Pakistan Senate Dysfunction Looms as Over Half Members Retire, Elections Set For April 2

The Pakistan Senate faced dysfunction as over half of its members retired on Monday night, leaving the upper house of parliament in a challenging position for the next three weeks according to Dawn. Usually, Senate members undergo turnover every three years as their six-year terms come to an end, followed by prompt elections to fill vacancies. However, an unprecedented delay in general elections has led to this unusual circumstance.

According to Dawn, the inability of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct prompt general elections has resulted in chaos within the Senate.

The ECP has declared that voting to occupy 48 vacant positions will occur on April 2, with the election timetable expected to be released soon. Importantly, four seats formerly allocated for the former tribal areas will be excluded from the elections, as they were eliminated following their integration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the 25th Amendment.

In the forthcoming elections, there will be competitions for seven general seats, two women’s seats, and two technocrat/ulema seats from each province, along with two seats designated for non-Muslims. Moreover, two senators will be chosen from the Islamabad Capital Territory, one in the general category and the other in the technocrat/ulema category.

Among those retiring are notable figures such as Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Mohammad Afridi, Leader of the House Ishaq Dar, and Leader of the Opposition Shahzad Wasim. It’s noteworthy that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will only lose seven senators among those retiring, including opposition leader Azam Swati, Faisal Javed Khan, and Walid Iqbal.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are poised for substantial transformations, with 12 out of 21 PPP senators and 11 of 16 PML-N lawmakers nearing the end of their tenures. Among the PML-N retirees are notable figures like Ishaq Dar, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Asif Kirmani, Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, and several others.