ISLAMABAD: The newly elected members of the Senate will be sworn in on March 12, the Senate Secretariat has said.
The tenure of the retiring senators ends March 11 after which 48 new members of the Upper House will be sworn in. A statement by the Senate Secretariat said the oath-taking will be held in the morning, while the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman will be held the same afternoon.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated Sadiq Sanjrani as the PTI’s candidate for Senate chairman. This was confirmed by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz.
Ahead of the Senate swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister Imran Khan will seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday to limit the opposition’s ability to challenge his government.
The information minister said a special session of the National Assembly will be held in which the prime minister will take a vote of confidence. The prime minister has reportedly directed party MNAs to stay in Islamabad until the session of the National Assembly summoned for vote confidence on Saturday.
In response to a question, the minister said that the PTI is currently focused on the aftermath of the Senate elections and legal action can be taken against PTI parliamentarians who voted other than the party’s candidates after an inquiry is conducted against them.
Shibli Faraz said that the prime minister will be seeking a vote of confidence from the parliament in line with universally accepted democratic principles and the decision was being hailed by people across the country as it was an unprecedented step in the country’s history.
Faraz said that the PTI had won its share of the seats in the upper house and had only lost one seat in the Senate. He confirmed that all PTI’s lawmakers will vote for the prime minister when the vote of confidence takes place and added that the prime minister does politics of principles.
The Senate elections were held in Pakistan as former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani pulled a shock victory over the PTI’s Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the polls. Gillani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 votes. Out of the total 341 votes, six were rejected and one was not polled.
