Senate to celebrate successes in 43 years

New zest has swept over upper house in recent years, say its members.

ISLAMABAD: Elaborate preparations have been made to mark the 43rd foundation day of the Senate on Friday. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has called a special session of the upper house. The session will be followed by a seminar along the same lines at a private hotel on Saturday.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker and parliamentary leader Tahir Hussain Mashhadi told The Express Tribune that a raft of speeches will be given explaining the functioning and successes of the Senate through the years.

The Senate, according to Mashhadi, is the oldest form of governance in the world. “Classical Greek philosophers Plato and Socrates were senators in ancient Greece,” he said. “The Roman Senate had achieved global fame: in fact, the Roman Empire was known because of its Senate.”

Commenting on how the current Senate functions in Pakistan, he said that it offers checks and balances in the role of parliamentary oversight and ensures that no province is overlooked or ignored.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senator Shibli Faraz lauded the current chairman for infusing energy and dynamism into this key house of parliament.

“Typically, the Senate has been a low-profile institution but the new chairman has infused a lot of energy and dynamism into it,” he said. Its committees also have become “more assertive, proactive and responsible”.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2016.