Day: February 28, 2024

After much ado, Pakistan is finally poised to see the inaugural session of its newly elected National Assembly.

As per the Constitution, President Arif Alvi was obligated to convene a new session of the National Assembly within 21 days of the Feb 8 general elections, which marks Feb 29 as the deadline to do so. However, given his reluctance, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf took matters in his own hands and summoned the session on the deadline day — Feb 29.

The inaugural session of the new assembly will first see all the lawmakers take oath. In the 336-member house, 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for minorities.

So far, the Election Commission of Pakistan has allocated 40 reserved women seats to different political parties. These include 20 out of 32 of Punjab, two out of 10 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all 14 of Sindh and all four of Balochistan.

Seven out of 10 seats reserved for minorities have also been allocated. The ECP is yet to allot reserved minority and women seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which has allied with the PTI.

Here is an overview of what else is expected in the inaugural session of the National Assembly.

Speaker and deputy speaker’s elections

The session will be presided over by Ashraf as the incumbent speaker retains his place until a successor is elected.

“At the first meeting of the Assembly, following a general election, after the members have made oath and before the transaction of any other business, the Assembly shall proceed to elect a Speaker under clause (1) of Article 53, by secret ballot,” states Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.

According to the Dawn bureau chief in Islamabad, Amir Wasim, the current speaker will first administer the oath to newly elected MNAs, following which each member will be called in alphabetical order to sign the register.

“The current speaker will then announce the schedule of the speaker’s election which will be held on the same day,” he said.

Article 53 of the Constitution of Pakistan says, “After a general election, the National Assembly shall, at its first meeting and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall elect another member as Speaker or, as the case may be, Deputy Speaker.”

Some time will be provided for the submission of nomination papers to the assembly’s secretariat, similar to how candidates are nominated in the general elections.

“At any time before 12:00 noon on the day preceding the day
on which the election is to be held, any member may propose another
member for election as Speaker by delivering to the Secretary a
nomination paper signed by him and accompanied by a statement by
the member whose name is proposed that he is willing to serve as
Speaker, if elected,” states the official procedure.

The voting process will be conducted through a secret ballot, and whoever receives more votes will be elected the new speaker of the house. In case the speaker’s election ends in a tie, the election will be held again.

Subsequently, the new speaker will announce the schedule for the deputy speaker’s election. In the same manner, through a secret ballot, the deputy will be elected, Wasim explained.

Prime minister

Once both the speaker and his deputy are in place, the former will announce the schedule for the election of the prime minister, known as the leader of the house in parliamentary language. This election is traditionally held the next day or the day after the speaker has been appointed.

Section 91(3) of the Constitution says: “After the election of the speaker and the deputy speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Minister.”

In the same way, nomination papers for the prime minister’s election will be submitted to the assembly’s secretariat.

While the election for the speaker, his deputy and the leader of the opposition are free from any religious limitation, the prime minister’s election is open to only the Muslim members of the house.

Before the voting process begins, “bells” will ring for five minutes inside the parliament house to inform every member — in case they aren’t present in the chamber at the moment — to gather inside. Once the process begins, the doors will be locked, and no one will be allowed to enter or leave the hall till the PM’s election is concluded.

“Before voting commences, the Speaker shall direct that the bells be rung for five minutes to enable members not present in the chamber to be present. Immediately after the bells stop ringing, all the entrances to the lobby shall be locked and the assembly staff posted at each entrance shall not allow any entry or exit through those entrances until the voting has concluded,” according to the official procedure for recording of votes in the Second Schedule.

Under the supervision of the speaker, an open vote will take place — by division.

“For example, if there are two candidates, the speaker would say that ‘whoever wants to vote for candidate A can go to lobby A’ and ‘whoever wants to vote for candidate B, can go to lobby B’. If there are three candidates then there can be a lobby C as well,” Wasim stated.

At the entrance of the said lobbies, there will be an member of the assembly secretariat staff who will record every MNAs name in their register. This whole process will be open and people sitting in the galleries will be able to see who votes for whom.

Here, the political parties have to vote collectively and every member has to vote for the candidate that their party is voting for.

“If a member of a parliamentary party votes against the directives of their party, not only will their vote not be counted, but they will also be penalised and de-seated from the assembly,” Advocate Usama Khawar had previously told Dawn.com.

After every member has picked their lobby and registered their vote, the speaker will call them back and announce the result. To be selected as the prime minister, one needs a simple majority — more than half of the votes in the house i.e. 169 votes out of the total 336.

But since there is no limit for the number of candidates hoping to grab the PM’s position, one possibility could be that there are three or more candidates contesting and none of them gets 169 or more votes.

Section 91(4) of the Constitution states, “The Prime Minister shall be elected by the votes of the majority of the total membership of the National Assembly: Provided that, if no member secures such a majority in the first poll, a second poll shall be held between the members who secure the two highest numbers of votes in the first poll and the member who secures a majority of votes of the members present and voting shall be declared to have been elected as Prime Minister: Provided further that, if the number of votes secured by two or more members securing the highest number of votes is equal, further poll shall be held between them until one of them secures a majority of votes of the members present and voting.”

This means that the two most-voted candidates will contest another round of elections till one ultimately gets 51 per cent of votes or more, and wins.

Leader of the opposition

Following the election of the prime minister, the speaker will ask the opposition members to submit the names of candidates, along with their signatures, that they want to make their leader.

“After the [election of the Prime Minister] the Speaker shall inform the members about the date, time and place for submission of a name for the Leader of the Opposition under their signatures,” says the official procedure in Chapter V 39(2).

The third point of the same section adds, “The Speaker shall declare a member as Leader of the Opposition having the greatest numerical strength after verification of the signatures of the members: Provided that any member who is not signatory to the proposal, if he presents himself before the count, and signs the proposal, shall be included in the count.”

This announcement will be made right after the prime minister’s election but submission of these lists can take time.

“It does not make a difference if the opposition leader is not in place right away. However, if the prime minister isn’t in place then it makes a difference to the country’s government,” Wasim explained.

“For the nomination of the opposition’s leader, I don’t think there is a timeframe,” he added.

“Prior to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the selection of the opposition leader was at the discretion of the speaker,” according to Wasim.

“This discretion was abused as seen during Parvez Musharraf’s era when despite PPP and PML-N having a clear majority, Fazlur Rehman was appointed as the opposition leader.

“The process has now changed. If there are two candidates vying for the position, they both will submit a list of opposition members along with their signatures to the speaker. The candidate who will garner more support from opposition members will be appointed as the leader of the opposition.”

For each one of the above-mentioned elections, the candidates’ own votes will also be counted.

GWADAR/QUETTA: Heavy rains wreaked havoc in Gwadar, Kech district and other parts of Balochistan, suspending normal life and traffic on the Coastal Highway and cutting off Gwadar and Ormara from Karachi and other parts of the province.

The Gwadar district administration has declared a state of emergency in rain-hit areas and para-military forces have been called in to help the district administration in rescue and relief operations of the affected people.

This was the heaviest rain spell in Gwadar district after 2010 when heavy rains hit the area triggered by a cyclone. Met officials said the coastal district received over 100mm rainfall in 12 hours. Though no casualty has been reported so far from any rain-hit areas of Gwadar, boundary walls and roofs of several mud houses collapsed in several areas.

Officials said rains which started late Monday night continued lashing the port city and other towns for 12 hours without break, causing urban flooding. Flash floods rendered hundreds of people homeless. Flood waters entered residential and commercial areas and roads of Gwadar town were presenting a pond-like situation.

Gwadar district administration declares state of emergency in rain-hit areas

“Around four feet of floodwater accumulated in our houses and we have no place even to sit,” Rahim Bakhsh, a resident of Mullah Band, a locality close to the Gwadar port, told Dawn. He added that Faqir Colony and several other localities were also submerged by floodwater.

A number of fishing boats were either destroyed or drowned in the sea which were anchored at the coastline of Gwadar. Most of inter-districts or roads were washed away in the floodwaters that cut off Ormara, Pasni, Jewani and Sarbandan from Gwadar.

Officials said a portion of the coastal highway linking Gwadar port with Karachi and other areas was washed away, cutting off Gwadar, Turbat and other areas with Karachi.

According to irrigation department officials, the Akra Kaur Dam has been filled up to more than its capacity and its spillways have been opened to release flood water and save the dam’s structure. Officials said Turbat-Mirani dam has also been filled up to its capacity and its spillways have been opened. “The dam is intact and there is no threat to its structure,” an official of the dam management told Dawn.

Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Aurangzeb Badini, along with chairman of Gwadar Municipal Com­mittee Sharif Maindad and other officials concerned, visited the affected areas and launched rescue and relief operations.

In Quetta, the new spell of heavy rains that started on Sunday night continued on Tuesday, submerging parts of the provincial capital. Rainwater entered settlements, particularly in slum areas, while a swollen stream threatened settlements on the outskirts of the city.

Reports received from different parts of Balochistan said rains played havoc in Zhob, Loralai, Pishin, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Toba Achakzai, Ziarat, Duki, Qila Saifullah, Kalat, Mastung, Khuzdar, Sibi, Bolan, Lasbela, Nasirabad, Kachhi, Dalbandin, Taftan, Noshki, Gwadar and many parts of the Makran division.

On the other hand, Ziarat, Kalat, Mastung, Sanjavi, Muslim Bagh, Khanozai, Qila Saifullah, Qila Abdullah and other areas received snowfall with brief intervals.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi continues to draw the ire of political parties over his refusal to summon the National Assembly session as PML-N and PPP leaders warned these actions could lead to “legal consequences”.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also rejected the objections raised by President Arif Alvi on the summary to summon the National Assembly session, a source in the PMO told Dawn.

In response to a summary sent by the Parliamentary Affairs Division last week, the president said since the lower house was not complete, he could not summon the session.

The PMO has rejected this objection and states that the Constitution clearly stated that the first NA session should take place within 21 days after the elections and that the president could summon the session before the expiry of the deadline.

Mr Alvi’s actions are unlikely to hamper the formation of the new government as the National Assembly speaker has summoned the session at 10am on Feb 29.

Bilawal, Dar say action tantamount to ‘abrogating Constitution’; PMO rejects objections on summary

Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that several cases will be made against President Alvi for “abrogating the Constitution”.

Legal consequences

While talking to media outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Mr Bhutto-Zardari added one case would be filed for dissolving the National Assembly when a no-confidence motion was moved against the then prime minister Imran Khan and the second for abrogating the Constitution by not convening the National Assembly session.

He, however, said his party had no plan to impeach the president.

Responding to a question, the PPP leader said he went into the election with a pledge to form a truth and reconciliation commission and release all political prisoners after coming into power.

“But the nation has not given me the mandate, and now I can only advise for it [the release of political prisoners],” he added.

The PPP leader said his party’s position has always been that the judiciary and establishment should work within their ambit as per the Constitution.

“If politicians want respect from these institutions, they should first start acting within their domains. Only in this way we can avoid incidents like May 9,” he added.

“Otherwise, we cannot expect our judiciary, media or any other institution to stay within their limits.”

On a question about talks with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which is now home to PTI-backed members, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he wanted to engage with SIC on government formation.

“They [SIC] did not approach PPP for votes to begin with, so they cannot raise objections over someone else forming the government, as they made no efforts to do so themselves.”

He said it was PTI’s decision not to engage with other parties. “We were then left with the option to engage with the party [PML-N] that approached us,” he said, adding that PPP will provide its input through the parliament.

In a wry remark, he expressed gratitude to SIC and PTI members for “allowing Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Murad Ali Shah to be elected as chief ministers of their respective provinces unopposed”.

“Shehbaz Sharif is now on his way to unanimously being elected as the PM, and the credit goes to the two parties,” he added.

PML-N Leader Ishaq Dar also alleged the president abrogated the Constitution by not summoning the NA session and would face legal cases.

Mr Dar said the caretaker federal government replied to the president’s objections as per law, and if “sense prevailed”, the president would convene the NA session.

He urged the law ministry, National Assembly Secretariat and other departments to summon the session by Thursday as per the Constitution.

The PML-N leader said the chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker of the Balochistan Assembly would be elected with the coalition parties’ support.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce the schedule for presidential election on March 1.

According to a proposed programme, candidates will be able to submit their nomination papers to presiding officer by 12noon on March 2.

In a statement, the ECP said all aspiring candidates can get their nomination papers from the Elec­tion Commission Secretariat in Islamabad and the provincial election commissioners of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

It said that all the assemblies will come into being by February 29 and then the electoral college — required for the election of the President — will be completed.

As per the constitutional mandate outlined in Article 41(4), the election for the president must take place within 30 days after the general elections.

Decision reserved on Nawaz’s plea against Mansehra election result

In another development, the ECP on Tuesday reserved its judgement on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s plea challenging the victory of PTI candidate from NA-15, Mansehra.

A two-member ECP bench, headed by member from Sindh Nisar Durrani, reserved judgment after conclusion of arguments by PML-N leader’s counsel Javed Jadoon and PTI-backed candidate Shahzada Gustasab Khan’s counsel, Babar Awan.

During the hearing, Mr Nawaz’s counsel argued that the result had been compiled in the absence of forms 45s of 123 polling stations of the constituency situated in far-flung areas.

The counsel also said, “The ballot boxes were not sealed”, adding that this constituency witnessed “greater rigging and vote-tampering than in Daska”.

The RO was booked in the case, but he fell sick and vanished after being shifted to the hospital, he alleged, adding that the counting of votes continued till 4am the next morning. Mr Nawaz’s lawyer termed the election “unconstitutional, illegal, and against election rules”.

ECP member from Punjab Babar Hassan Bharwana inquired if he thought the same regarding the elections held across the country. The PML-N lawyer responded: “I am only talking about the irregularities in the elections held in NA-15,” urging the ECP judges to order a re-election.

PTI candidate’s counsel Mr Awan argued: “If the seals of the bags were broken, then the matter should be sent to the tribunal for investigation. The FIR registered against the RO is not sufficient evidence. The ECP is neither a court nor a tribunal, it cannot record testimonies.”

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party stalwart Syed Murad Ali Shah was sworn in as the 25th chief minister of the province on Tuesday.

Governor Kamran Tessori administered the oath in the evening at a ceremony held at the lawns of Governor House and attended among others by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, outgoing caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar, several newly elected legislators and diplomats.

Moment after the oath-taking ceremony, chaos prevailed until Mr Bhutto-Zardari and CM Shah smoothly left in the cluster of their guards, who did not let even mediapersons to talk to them for journalistic consumption.

Taking his oath, the chief minister swore to uphold the duties and responsibilities entrusted to him by the people of the province. He vowed to steer the province towards prosperity, unity, and progress. He solemnly pledged to uphold the Constitution and work tirelessly for the betterment of the province.

The swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister was conducted by Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam.

Those who attended the oath-taking ceremony among others were Faryal Talpur, former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, former speaker Agha Siraj Durani, Sindh Assembly Speaker Awais Qadir Shah, Deputy Speaker Anthony Naveed, former ministers and PPP MPAs Sharjeel Memon, Imtiaz Shaikh, Saeed Ghani, Sardar Shah and Jam Khan Shoro.

Earlier on Monday, he was comfortably elected chief minister for a third time in a row by securing 112 votes in the 168-member Sindh Assembly.

Taking to Dawn, Sharjeel Memon said one of the priorities set by the chief minister was the provision of potable water to urban and rural parts of the province. “Besides, the CM’s main focus will be on curbing street crimes and maintenance of law and order,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024

SHE had long been groomed as heir apparent to the country’s most prominent political dynasty and her election as Punjab’s chief minister this week marked her crowning. Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, now holds one of the most powerful political positions in the country.

With uncle Shehbaz Sharif assured of being elected prime minister for the second time, the Sharif family is fully back in the saddle. The spectacle at the swearing-in ceremony in Lahore, with a beaming newly elected chief minister sitting between father and uncle on the stage, was most revealing.

A sombre-looking Nawaz Sharif and his ebullient younger brother watched the passing of the baton to the new generation. Maryam exuded a strong sense of entitlement as she stood up to take oath for the coveted position that perhaps matters most for the family’s hold on power. It provides yet another ironical twist to the ongoing power game. The family has regained control of its bastion but with questionable legitimacy.

It is apparent that the family’s return to power largely owes itself to the support of the same power that was responsible for its ouster a few years back. It’s a Pyrrhic victory for a dynasty that seems to have lost much political capital in the process. Widespread allegations of manipulation of the electoral results have cast a dark shadow over the transition of power.

It’s a Pyrrhic victory for a dynasty that seems to have lost much political capital.

Nawaz Sharif had returned home after years in self-exile in the hope of winning a fourth term as prime minister, but he chose to step down in favour of his younger brother after his party failed to win a majority in the elections. He obviously would not have liked to head a coalition of disparate elements.

But there seems to be another, perhaps more plausible, reason behind his decision, ie, to make it possible for his daughter to take charge in Punjab. The patriarch is certainly not out of politics and will remain the main power behind the scenes and keep the family together.

Yet it may not be an easy ride for the Sharifs, who have gone through cycles of rise and fall over the past four decades. It’s not just that the PML-N will be heading a minority government at the centre; there will also be a coalition government in Punjab. The party has been able to muster a majority in the provincial assembly after winning over the loyalty of a number of independents.

It was not an auspicious start for the new Punjab Assembly session, with a huge police force deployed outside the building on the lookout for some PTI members, including the opposition candidate for chief minister, who is wanted in several cases. Aslam Iqbal and several other PTI members won the elections while in hiding.

With the police chasing him, Iqbal could not file his nomination papers, and the PTI-backed independents, who have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council, had to name another candidate for the post at the last minute. Meanwhile, the party has still not received its share of reserved seats for women and religious minorities. The group at the end boycotted the election, allowing Maryam Nawaz to get elected unopposed as the first woman chief minister in Pakistan.

Maryam has been associated with the PML-N for many years, largely working behind the scenes before actively joining politics in her father’s third term. Her role became more prominent after Sharif’s ouster from power in 2017 and his conviction. She rapidly rose in the party’s hierarchy. The ‘talented’ daughter was appointed vice president over and above the senior leaders of the party.

Maryam had also been convicted in the Panama case and sent to jail briefly raising her stakes as heir apparent. The episode catapulted her onto the national political stage. She became the face of resistance with her powerful anti-establishment speeches. Her rallies drew large crowds that helped to revitalise the party. Her role was also a huge departure from the party’s conservative culture that discouraged putting women in leadership positions. But that charisma was soon lost as her speeches lacked substance.

Meanwhile, her appointment as the party’s senior vice president and chief organiser, which virtually made her the third most powerful person in the PML-N hierarchy after her father and uncle, has proved divisive.

Many senior party leaders openly expressed reservations over her premature elevation. Most prominent among them was Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, one of the most senior PML-N leaders and former federal interior minister, who left the party over the issue. The most recent one to exit the party is former prime minister and the PML-N’s senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. He also quit the party after being superseded by the much junior daughter of the party leader.

It has been very obvious that the family comes first in order to maintain its dynastic hold over the party and national power politics. It is not surprising that the party’s mass support base has dwindled over the years, with no induction of new blood from outside the family.

While support from the security establishment may have helped the dynasty return to power, it can’t remain propped up for long without delivering on good governance and addressing the grave challenges faced by the country. The elections, though rigged, must come as a wake-up call for dynastic politics.

Indeed, Maryam’s inaugural speech in the assembly, though unnecessarily long, seemed well-prepared signifying her government’s human development priorities.

There was more about her government’s future plans than lamenting what had happened in the past. She also called for reconciliation with the opposition, but with the denial of democratic rights these are just hollow words signifying nothing. Punjab has the largest number of political prisoners.

She also talked about women’s rights but forgot to mention female political prisoners languishing in jails for months without charge. If Pakistan’s first woman chief minister wants a new beginning she must start with the release of political prisoners and bring an end to human right violations.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

X: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024