ISLAMABAD – The upper house of parliament becomes non-functional for at least three weeks as 52 lawmakers retired on Monday night.
The tenure of 52 Senators, including Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Deputy Chairman, Leader of the House Ishaq Dar, Leader of the Opposition Dr. Shahzad Waseem, and Senator Raza Rabbani, ended.
Meanwhile, terms of at least 11 senators of PML-N, 13 by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), seven by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and two each from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), and National Party also ended.
Four senators backed by Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), along with one senator from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and Pakistan Muslim League-F (PML-F), have also retired.
Senators who were retired included Maula Bux Chandio, Dr Farogh Naseem, Dr. Musadik Malik, Faisal Javed, and Azam Khan Swati.
Following the general elections, six Senate seats have become vacant due to the winners in those elections. By-elections to fill these vacant seats are scheduled for March 14.
Senators are elected for a 6-year term, with half of them retiring every three years, necessitating elections to fill the vacancies. Typically, these elections occur shortly before the senators’ terms expire, but this was not the case this time.
As per the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), polling to fill 48 vacancies is scheduled for April 2, with the commission set to announce the election schedule this week.
