Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president, favours the re-election of those treasury senators who will lose their seats in today’s (Monday) draw.

The constitution of Pakistan states that 50 senators have to retire by March 12, 2006. In order to fulfil the constitutional requirement of Article 183, the names of the 50 ‘unfortunate’ senators will be separated in today’s draw.

Sources close to Shujaat told Daily Times on Sunday that he did not favour starting new controversies by nominating “fresh faces” for election to half of the Senate seats, which would get vacant as a result of the draw.

They said that although the PML had formed a seven-member parliamentary board to accept applications from candidates for party tickets to contest the Senate election, Shujaat did not want to annoy party leaders and “well-wishers”. Sources also said the nomination of a new candidate would annoy dozens of other aspirants.

A senior PML leader said the parliamentary board was the final authority to select candidates for the 50 Senate seats, but Shujaat would insist re-electing outgoing treasury senators.

Headed by Shujaat, the parliamentary board includes Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan chief ministers, PML NWFP president and Senator Mushahid Hussain, PML secretary general.

Currently, the PML and its allies enjoy a majority in Senate with 56 seats. The opposition including the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and nationalist parties have 46 seats.

Ministers including Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Babar Khan Ghauri, Javed Ashraf Qazi, Abdul Razzaq Thahim, Ajmal Khan, Dr Shehzad Waseem, Muhammad Ali Durrani, Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, Tariq Azeem and Naseer Khan Mengal may lose their seats.

Similarly, it cannot be ruled out that Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro, Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad and Leader of the Opposition Mian Raza Rabbani might join the ranks of the outgoing senators.