Senate: PPP urges Sanjrani to come clean

Urges chairman to disclose lawmakers who withdrew requisition signatures

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has called upon Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to reveal the names of the lawmakers who retracted their signatures for a session on skyrocketing inflation despite repeated requests to disclose the details, and urged him to urgently convene the session.

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the upper house, PPP’s Senator Taj Haider voiced concerns and sought clarification on the matter of the requisition and highlighted that the Senate secretariat had reported that five members had withdrawn their signatures from the requisition submitted by the PPP.

However, despite repeated requests for this information, the names of these individuals have not been disclosed to the PPP.

Earlier, five out of the six senators from parties other than the PPP had withdrawn their signatures from the requisition, which aimed to discuss the "skyrocketing inflation and inflated electricity bills causing grave concern and unrest among the general public" on September 18th.

In response to PPP's concerns about "dubious behind-the-scene activities," the Senate secretariat explained that the party did not have the sufficient number of signatures required but did not disclose the names of those who retracted their support.

In the letter written on Wednesday, the PPP raised questions about the process by which these members allegedly withdrew their signatures. The party asked whether these individuals had formally requested the Senate secretariat in writing to retract their support.

The PPP emphasised that the constitution and the rules do not empower any entity to unilaterally withdraw a signature, thus questioning the role of the Senate chairman or the Senate secretariat as decision-makers in this matter.

Furthermore, the PPP highlighted that the constitution does not grant the Senate chairman's office the authority to make such determinations. The letter posed the question, "Even if we assume for a moment that the allegation is correct, doesn't it open a door for a few senators to keep their other worthy colleagues hostage even after signing a requisition?"

The PPP also questioned the role of the Senate secretariat and the Senate chairman, asking how they assumed the role of sitting as an adjudicator and allowing withdrawal when no such role has been given by the constitution or the Senate rules.

The letter stressed that it was an established parliamentary convention for parliamentary party leaders to gather the signatures of their respective party members on such documents/requisitions.

It argued that the act of the Senate chairman or the Senate secretariat allowing withdrawals could be seen as infringing upon the authority of political party heads and parliamentary party leaders.

“As per Article 54(3) of the Constitution read with rule 3 of Senate Rules, summoning of the Senate within 14 days, whenever a requisition signed by the required numbers of honourable members is submitted is the constitutional duty of your high office. Unlike the constitutional role in acceptance of resignations, the constitution does not provide any role to the Chairman Senate with regard to withdrawal of signatures on the requisition.”

In closing, the letter expressed hope that the decision to reject the requisition would be reconsidered, taking into account the interests of the people.

The PPP requested Chairman Senate Sanjrani to promptly convene a Senate meeting to address the pressing concerns regarding the issue of the requisition.