Senate to discuss mode of its elections on October 5

Single transferable voting system on agenda of debate

ISLAMABAD:

The President has summoned the 120th session of the Upper House of Parliament on October 5. During the session, the House will convert itself into a Committee of the Whole to discuss the mode of Senate elections, particularly for Senators from FATA.

The committee has been constituted on a motion moved by the Leader of the House. The motion requested to “consider mode of elections of Members of State, pros and cons of single transferable voting system, alternates, poll reforms etc.”

The meeting is likely to discuss the finalisation of list of specialists to be invited for expert opinion or public hearing. Submission of proposals by the members among other items on the agenda will also be discussed.

It will hear a research paper on international practices regarding elections of members of the House and pros and cons of single transferable voting system. The members have been requested to give their proposals in writing besides speeches, during the committee proceedings.

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Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani considers the panel to have made a valuable addition to the business of the house. “It is a new experience as far as Pakistan’s parliament is concerned, because this concept has been there abroad,” he said.

According to Rabbani, the newly-formed committee has not experienced any major hiccup and it seems to be running smoothly. “Like everything else, the main issue will come when the question of implementation of the recommendations comes about. That is the essence,” he added.

The chairman has amended some rules of the house business since he took over in late March.

Earlier on, the recommendations of a committee report used to be laid in the house and then, as per routine, dispatched to the ministries and be forgotten.

Now, however, after every three months, ministers appear in the house to make a statement regarding status of the recommendations sent to their ministry by the house. There is a proper mechanism where the minister informs the house about the progress made on the recommendations and earlier commitments.



“We’ve had this cycle once, since I took over and the rules have been amended,” said Rabbani. “We have sent the recommendations and the commitments that were made on the floor of the house. We ask the minister to what extent they’ve been implemented. If not, what are the reasons?”

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Rabbani said that these amendments have made the house business slightly better than what it was before, yet not satisfactory. “At least there is some system of accountability now.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.