ISLAMABAD: The Senate election is tentatively scheduled for 3 March 2024 may not face any delay, as the electoral college – the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies – will be completed to elect half of the 100 retiring senators after the 8 February 2024 general polls.
It is immaterial whether the leader of the house of the national and the four provincial assemblies has been elected or not - a process that could be delayed in the event that no one party wins a simple majority and requires alliances whose negotiations may be cumbersome - as the Senate’s electoral college would be in place latest by the end of February 2024.
Informed sources further told Business Recorder that the newly-elected members of the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies will take their oaths by February 20, after the announcement of the schedule for the Senate election.
Senate elections are held every three years upon retirement of 50 percent of the total members of the Upper House of Parliament.
As per procedure, elections to fill the vacant seats in the Senate allocated to each province shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
Each of the four provincial assemblies shall elect to the next Senate 23 members from their respective provinces that include 14 on general seats, four on seats reserved for technocrats including Ulema, four on seats reserved for women and one on a seat reserved for non-Muslims.
Four members – two on general seats, one technocrat including an Aalim and one woman – are elected from the Federal Capital by the National Assembly.
Earlier, there were concerns about the possibility of a delay in general elections but following the intervention of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the election schedule on December 15.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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