Chairman Senate seeks nominations for 'political dialogue' committee

Sanjrani writes to both govt, PTI to nominate members for constitution of a special committee for negotiations

ISLAMABAD:

The chairman Senate on Thursday wrote separate letters to the leader of the house and the opposition to nominate members from both the treasury and opposition benches to constitute a special committee for holding political dialogue.

In the letter, Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani said that both leaders, Senator Ishaq Dar and Dr Shahzad Waseem, are requested to provide the names of four members for inclusion in the special committee within two days.

Sanjrani stated that the Senate of Pakistan, House of Federation, being a stabilising factor of the federation is constitutionally bestowed with the responsibility of protecting the national and political harmony vis-a-vis the national and public interest.

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Chairman Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has written seperate letters to both the Leader of the House in the Senate, Senator Ishaq Dar and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Dr. Shahzad Waseem to nominate members from both the treasury and opposition benches to… pic.twitter.com/DmMCBD5oQv

— Office of the Chairman Senate, Pakistan (@OfficeSenate) April 27, 2023

"By assuming this responsibility and taking note that the Parliament is the right and the only forum for the resolution of political issues, given the prevailing political and economic situation, a committee comprising of members of the Senate belonging to both sides of the aisle has been proposed to address the ongoing political and economic crisis, including the holding of general elections," he furthered.

The 10-member special committee will be under the joint convenorship of the leader of the house and the opposition and will comprise of four members from each side.

The Senate secretariat will remain available to assist/facilitate the committee in performing its functions for preserving the political system and for the betterment of the State and its citizenry.

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The letters by the Senate chairman came just hours before the Supreme Court (SC) resumed hearing on the Punjab polls delay case.

Last week, adopting a carrot and stick policy, the apex court had asked all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies expeditiously; otherwise, the court had noted, its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14 would come into force.

A day earlier, addressing separate huddles of the parties in the ruling coalition, PML-N parliamentary party and cabinet, the premier said elections were an issue that needed to be decided in parliament and the appropriate time to conduct them was either in October or November.