Farewell speech: Deputy Senate Chairman proposes direct polls for upper house

Says current house made many good decisions but some areas remained unaddressed.


Zahid Gishkori March 08, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Outgoing Deputy Chairman of the Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali has proposed direct elections for the upper house.

“Direct elections for the Senate are imperative for better representation of the public [in the forum],” he said, in his farewell speech on Thursday. He said that a quota of 33% must be reserved for women senators in direct elections.

Jamali, who is due to retire next week after serving his six-year tenure in the Senate, admitted that the upper house was unable to address many issues. “Senate made a number of decisions for the betterment of the people’s lives, but some areas remained unaddressed,” he said.

Participating in the farewell speeches, re-elected senator Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said the Senate’s decisions will have far-reaching impact on the country’s development and people’s prosperity. “The current Senate was part of a Parliament that made historic decisions for legislation and furtherance of democracy,” he said.

Among others who spoke were Muhammad Ismail Buledi, Naeem Hussain Chattha, Shirala Malik, Raja Zafarul Haq, Muhammad Jahangir Badr, Mir Mohabbat Khan Marri, S M Zafar, Maulana Gul Naseeb, Saeeda Iqbal and Almas Parveen.

COMMENTS (1)

Abdul Qayyum Bhatti | 12 years ago | Reply

The proposition could have been worthwhile if Mr, Jamali had forwarded it during his service. It is customary that people use to talk good things when they are about to leave the authoritative positions.

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