ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Core Committee has taken the decision to boycott the election for the Senate’s chairman and deputy chairman, deeming the polls as unconstitutional.
Furthermore, the party has resolved to challenge the legitimacy of the Senate’s chairman and deputy chairman election in court.
Sources within the PTI core committee emphasized that the election was conducted unconstitutionally due to the incomplete composition of the house, particularly highlighting the absence of senatorial elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The election lacks constitutional validity without the participation of senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” stated the sources.
“The absence of the chairman has rendered the house dysfunctional,” argued PTI sources. “The Senate Secretariat is unable to make decisions beyond administrative matters.”
“The Secretary of the Senate cannot interpret the constitution under pressure,” the sources added.
“The upper house has essentially become a mere department without its chairman,” the sources asserted, calling for an investigation into those responsible for rendering the Senate dysfunctional.
“This marks the first instance of the Senate being rendered inoperative in the country’s democratic history,” the sources highlighted.
Earlier, the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) submitted a petition to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), urging the postponement of the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman due to the absence of Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The petition, filed by lawyer Hamid Khan on behalf of the SIC, requested the ECP to promptly conduct elections for 11 Senate seats in the province.
The PTI-supported SIC advocated for the delay of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman election scheduled for April 9, citing the incomplete Electoral College without the participation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senate election.
It’s worth noting that on April 2, the provincial election commissioner postponed the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following an application from opposition members, amid an unresolved dispute over the swearing-in of opposition members elected to reserved seats in the KP Assembly.
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