ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has taken oath as Senator today. He was was elected senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seat today. The Senate seat was vacated by PTI leader Muhammad Ayub Afridi. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani admistered the oath to newly-elected Senator Tarin. After taking oath as Senator, Tarin is expected to become federal minister for finance and revenue once again.
Last month, Ayub Afridi resigned as member of the upper house to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.The PTI government wanted to get Tarin elected to Senate on the seat vacated by Afridi to ensure he becomes the finance minister again.
Shaukat Tarin was appointed as the finance minister on April 17 and his constitutional tenure ended on October 16 after which he was appointed as the finance adviser to the PM. According to the Constitution, in order to continue as the finance minister for longer than six months, Tarin needed to be elected to parliament.
The government’s first priority was to get Tarin elected to Senate on PML-N leader Ishaq Dar’s seat — which has virtually remained vacant in his absence — but a plan B was also in place to get a Senate seat vacated from KP for his election because of some uncertainties.
It was decided by the government that Ayub Afridi would resign to create a seat for Tarin in KP. Tarin’s national identity card had to be changed with a KP address followed by registration in the voter list, to qualify for senatorship from that province.
After being elected as senator, Tarin can now present the much debated mini budget, set to be put in front of the parliament in a few days.
Out of 145 members of the provincial assembly, 122 cast their votes during today’s Senate by-election.
The finance adviser won the seat after securing 87 votes. Meanwhile, Shaukat Jamal Ameerzada of the Awami National Party and Zahir Shah of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl secured 13 votes each. PPP’s Mohammad Saeed did not manage to secure a single vote.
Speaking to the media in Peshawar after his election, Tarin said that he will focus on the the province’s financial and economic problems. He said that his contribution to the province would be “progressive”.
