Iftikhar A. Khan
March 2, 2024
PPP leaders Jam Mehtab Dahar and Nisar Khuhro attended the Senate session despite being elected to the Sindh Assembly.
ISLAMABAD: Confusion prevails in upper house of the parliament, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the schedules for the presidential elections on March 9, followed by polls on six Senate seats on March 14.
The six Senate seats fell vacant after the election of the members of the upper house of parliament to the national and provincial assemblies.
Article 223 of the Constitution clearly bars double membership. Under sub-section 4 of the Article, if a member of either house of the parliament or of a provincial assembly becomes a candidate for a second seat, which he may not hold concurrently with his first seat, then his first seat becomes vacant as soon as he is elected to the second seat.
On Friday, however, at least two ‘strangers’ attended the Senate session in violation of the clear constitutional provision. They included Nisar Khuhro and Jam Mehtab Dahar, both from Pakistan Peoples Party, who have already been elected as members of the Sindh Assembly.
Two ‘strangers’ attend session of the upper house of parliament
Names of both are on the list of six Senators whose seats have fallen vacant and where elections are to take place on March 14.