Yusuf Raza Gilani elected Senate chairman unopposed

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was elected as the chairman of the Senate unopposed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Saidal Nasir Khan was elected as the deputy chairman, also unopposed.

The two were elected during a session summoned by Preside Asif Ali Zardati, which also saw 41 newly elected senators being sworn in as members of the Upper House of Parliament amid a noisy protest by the PTI, which had boycotted the election.

PTI leader Senator Ali Zafar, speaking on the floor, demanded the Senate election be deferred as Article 59 of the Constitution requires 96 members to be present in the house for the election of its chairman and that the “process would be unconstitutional till the house is complete”.

“We will not accept this illegal election till the senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are duly elected and are present here,” he maintained.

Lamenting that Senate polls in Punjab were held excluding the reserved seats, the PTI leader Senator Ali Zafar said that the election of the house’s chairman and deputy chairman is being made “controversial”.

“We wanted to participate in the election [of chairman and deputy chairman], however, we would not be part of it where it is ultra vires of the Constitution,” Senator Zafar added.

Blaming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for making controversial decisions, Senator Ali Zafar called for the Senate session to be adjourned till senators from KP are elected.