Finance adviser Shaukat Tarin elected senator from K-P

PM's aide is now expected to be appointed as finance minister once again

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Monday won the senate seat from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) by securing 87 votes.

The polling for the by-election was held in the old hall of the K-P Assembly which began at 9am and continued till 4pm. After the development, Tarin is expected to be appointed as the finance minister once again.

Awami National Party’s (ANP) Shaukat Jamal Ameerzada, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Zahir Shah and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Mohammad Saeed were the other candidates in the race for the Senate seat.

Read more: Way cleared for Tarin to become senator

Tarin’s rival candidates had objected to his candidacy over the recent registration of his vote in K-P. However, the objections were later dismissed by the provincial election commissioner.

Talking to the media in Peshawar, the newly-elected senator reaffirmed his commitment to take steps for the socio-economic uplift of the people of the province.

He said that the people of the province have rendered matchless sacrifices during the war against terrorism.

Tarin said that the government has launched Ehsaas Rashan Programme in K-P which will benefit 20 million families. He said that under the programme, edible items including oil, pulses and flour will be provided at 30 per cent subsidised rates.

Read People squeezed by inflation face more pain from tax hikes

Tarin, who was appointed as the finance minister on April 17 earlier this year, did not fulfil the constitutional requirement of winning an election within six months of his appointment and was appointed as the financial adviser following the completion of his constitutional tenure on October 16. However, he currently retains the status of a federal minister.

The Senate seat in question was vacated by Muhammad Ayub Afridi, who tendered his resignation from the upper house of parliament in November upon Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wish. The premier subsequently appointed him as an adviser on overseas Pakistanis.

Soon after the senator’s resignation, speculations emerged that the ruling party had asked its lawmaker to step down to get the finance adviser elected to the upper house in order to restore his status as the finance minister.

It is worth mentioning here that the PTI tried to get its previous finance minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh elected to the Senate from Islamabad. However, Shaikh lost the seat to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the controversial Senate polls held in March.

Later, he was removed as the finance minister and the position was temporarily filled by Hammad Azhar, who was subsequently replaced by Tarin.