Pakistani Senate meets at inaugural session, 54 likely to take oath

Pakistani Senate meets at inaugural session, 54 likely to take oath

     ISLAMABAD, Mar 11 The Senate will meet Monday morning
at its inaugural session of new parliamentary year where 54
Senatorselect will take oath with four minority members also
reaching the Upper House for the first time in its history.
     President Asif Ali Zardari has designated Senator Afrasiab
Khattak to preside over the session wherein after taking oath the
members will elect the new Chairman to the Senate.
     After election of the Chairman the Presiding Officer will
administer oath to newly elected Chairman. After taking oath, the
new Chairman will take the seat and conduct the election for Deputy
Chairman and administer him the oath after election.
     After fulfilling this constitutional requirement, a new House
will be in place with new Senators to stay in the House for a term
of sixyear while their 50 colleagues  the present ones will
retire after next three years.
     After the recent Senate elections, Pakistan Peoples Party
Parliamentarians has emerged as a majority party in the House with
41 seats followed by PMLN with 14 seats and ANP with 12 seats and
JUIF and MQM with seven seats each, PMLQ five, BNPA four and
National Party and PMLF with one member each. Remaining are stated
to be independents in the House of 104 members.
     With the power game taking its course, parties like Jamate
Islami, Pakistan TehreekeInsaaf, PKMAP and Awami Muslim League
lost the ground and will have no representation in the Upper House
from Monday.
     Those who are likely to take oath from Punjab will include,
PMLN's M. Hamza, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Zafarullah Khan
and Rafiq Rajwana; PPP's ZaheerudDin Baber Awan, PMLQ's Kamil Ali
Agha and an independent candidate Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari.
     Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Ishaq Dar and Khalida Perveen of
PPPP and Nuzhat Sadiq of PMLN will take oath on seats reserved for
ulema and technocrats and women respectively. Minority member from
Punjab will be Kamran Michael of PMLN.
     From Sindh, Saeed Gani, Raza Rabbani, Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamra
and Karim Khawaja of PPPP; Syed Mustafa Kamal and Tahir Mashadi of
MQM and Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah of PMLF will take oath on general
seats, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of PPPP and Barrister Farogh Naseem of
MQM against the seats reserved for ulema and technocrats and PPPP's
Mudassar Sehar Kamran and MQM's Nasreen Jalil will take oath on
seats reserved for women. Minority Senatorelect from Sindh is Harri
Ram Kishori Lal.
     From Khyber PakhtunKhwa, Senatorselect ANP's Shahi Syed, Baz
Muhammad Khan and Azam Hoti, PPPP's Haji Saifullah Khan Bangash and
Ahmad Hassan, JUIF's Muhammad Talha Mahmood and PMLN's Nisar
Muhammad will take oath. These members were elected on general
seats.
     On two seats reserved for women Mrs. Rubina Khalid of PPPP and
Mrs. Zahida Khan of ANP and on seats reserved for ulema and
technocrats ANP's Ilyas Ahmed Bilour and PPPP's Farhatullah Babar
will take oath. ANP's Amar Jeet is a minority member from KPK.
     From Balochistan, ANP's Advocate Muhammad Daud Khan Achekzai,
PPPP's Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani, Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi and
Muhammad Yousaf Baloch, PMLQ's Saeedul Hassan Mandokhail, JUIF's
Hafiz Hamdullah and BNPA'a Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri will take oath
on general seats. BNPA's Naseema Ehsan and PMLQ's Mrs Robina Irfan
and Mufti Abdul Sattar of JUIF and Rozi Khan Kakar of PPPP will
take oath on seats reserved for women and ulema and technocrats
respectively. Minority Senatorelect from Balochistan is Heman Dass
of JUIF.
     For FATA, Hidayatullah, Malik Najamul Hassan, Saleh Shah and
Hilalur Rehman are likely to take oath.
     From federal capital Mushahid Hussain Syed of PMLQ and Osman
Saifullh will be taking oath on seat reserved for ulema and
technocrats and a general seat respectively.

AKRAM ABID