Former Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad. File photo
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Former Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has been nominated by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as its candidate for the coveted post of Senate chairman as part of the power-sharing agreement between his party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), according to a media report on Friday, April 5, 2024.

A notification nominating Mr. Gilani was issued on Thursday by Jamil Soomro, political secretary to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Geo News reported.

Post-poll agreement

According to a post-poll agreement between the PPP and the PML-N that formed a coalition government after the February 8 general elections, the post of president, Senate chairman and governorship of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were given to the PPP, while the posts of Senate deputy chairman, National Assembly speaker and governorship of Sindh and Balochistan were given to the PML-N.

Presently, the 71-year-old veteran leader, who served as the country’s prime minister from 2008 to 2012, has the support of 24 senators from the PPP, 19 from the PML-N, four from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), three from Awami National Party (ANP), three independents and one from the National Party, taking the tally to 54, the report said.

If he gets the support of three Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) (MQM-P) and five Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) senators, then the tally will be 62, suggesting a comfortable position for the ruling coalition nominee.

On the other hand, jailed former premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has the support of 20 senators and one each from the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and PML-Q, taking its tally to 22.

If the JUI-F opts to sit with the opposition, then it would have a total of 27 members, the report said.

Eleven Senate seats from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are lying vacant as the Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed the election there.

Mr. Gilani’s election victory would set a unique record as he would be the first person to have served as the National Assembly speaker, prime minister and Senate chairman.

The Senate is expected to meet for its inaugural session on April 9 when the newly-elected members of the upper house of Parliament will be administered oath.

According to parliamentary sources, following the recent appointment of Senator-elect Ishaq Dar as presiding officer because of the slots of chairman and deputy chairman Senate lying vacant, preparations are afoot to summon the session.

Both Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Muhammad Afridi had completed their three-year terms as chairman and deputy chairman before the recent Senate elections. Therefore, it was necessary to appoint a presiding officer before the Senate session.

It is for the first time that the House would be holding a session without polling in an assembly. Hence, the now 96-member Senate will be shy of 11 members when it meets, Geo News reported.

Last month, Mr. Gilani won a Senate seat in the National Assembly from Islamabad, polling 204 of the 301 votes cast, while his rival Sunni Ittehad Council’s Ilyas Mehrban got only 88 votes.

In the February 8 general elections, Gilani won a National Assembly seat from Multan in Punjab province.

Gilani, who took oath as a member of the lower house on February 29, then vacated the seat on March 22.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari family members attend a ceremony after Mr. Zardari became the first Pakistani to be elected as Pakistan’s President for the second time. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Zardaris have overtaken the Sharifs to hold the record for having the most number of lawmakers from a family in Pakistani politics after President Asif Ali Zardari and slain former premier Benazir Bhutto’s youngest daughter Aseefa was elected unopposed as a member of Parliament.

Ms. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari (31), who is set to become the First Lady, had filed a nomination for the National Assembly seat NA-207 from the Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) area of Sindh province for the bye-election scheduled for next month.

According to a notification issued by the Returning Office of the area, Ms. Bhutto Zardari was elected unopposed after three candidates who had filed papers against her withdrew their names from the contest. It left her with no challenger and she was declared a winner in her maiden electoral contest on March 29. The seat was vacated by her father Asif Ali Zardari after he was elected as the president.

Ms. Bhutto Zardari holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and sociology and a master’s in global health and development. She served as a goodwill ambassador for the polio eradication campaign in 2012.

With her victory, the Zardari family has six lawmakers at the national and provincial levels. Mr. Zardari is the country’s president, his daughter Aseefa, son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and brother-in-law Munawar Ali Talpur are Members of the National Assembly. Mr. Zardari’s sisters Faryal Talpur and Azra Pechuho are members of the provincial assembly in Sindh.

The Zardari family has the most number of legislators from a single family, breaking the record set by the Sharif family.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s elder brother Nawaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz Sharif have been elected MNAs. Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the chief minister of Punjab.

Both political families are very influential and have dominated Pakistani politics for decades.

Image used for representational purpose only. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan has rejected a report claiming that it sold arms and ammunition to Ukraine in order to secure a crucial bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on September 18 rejected as “baseless and fabricated” the Intercept report saying that cash-strapped Pakistan provided arms to the U.S. to get its support to clinch a $3 billion deal with the IMF towards the end of June to avoid default.

The Intercept, an investigative website, on Sunday reported that “secret Pakistani arms sales to the U.S. helped facilitate a controversial bailout from the IMF earlier this year.

The report said that the arms sales were “made for the purpose of supplying the Ukrainian military — marking Pakistani involvement in a conflict it had faced U.S. pressure to take sides on”.

Pakistan has struggled to maintain a balance in ties with the Kremlin and Washington since the Russia-Ukraine crisis began earlier last year.

“The IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan was successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF to implement difficult but essential economic reforms. Giving any other colour to these negotiations is disingenuous,” Dawn News quoted Ms. Baloch as saying.

Ms. Baloch said Pakistan maintained a policy of “strict neutrality” in the dispute between the two countries and did not provide them any arms or ammunition in that context. “Pakistan’s defence exports are always accompanied by strict end-user requirements,” she said.

During a visit to Pakistan in July, Ukra­inian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had rejected similar reports that the cash-strapped country was supplying arms to Ukraine to support its military during the ongoing conflict with Russia, according to Dawn. He had clarified that the two nations had no deal for the supply of arms and ammunition.

Former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also expressed similar views, maintaining that Pakistan had not signed any agreement with Ukraine for military supplies since the war began.

In July, the IMF transferred $1.2 billion to cash-strapped Pakistan, part of the $3 billion bailout programme for nine months to support the government’s efforts to stabilise the country’s ailing economy.