Senate | Pakistan

The agenda for the upcoming session of the Senate has been released, with the upper house scheduled to meet tomorrow, Monday, at 11:30 am.

Shortly after getting approval from the federal cabinet, the bill for the 27th Constitutional Amendment was tabled before the Senate on Saturday and subsequently referred to the standing committees on law and justice. A joint session of both the NA and Senate standing committees on law and justice was then summoned to discuss the amendment. However, during the session of the standing committees, two Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) members, Aliya Kamran and Senator Kamran Murtaza, boycotted the meeting and said the proposed draft included amendments that were discarded in the 26th Amendment bill. Following deliberations on the proposed amendment, the law committees of both Houses adjourned the moot till Sunday. ‘Discussions will continue till consensus is reached’ Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, speaking to the media after the adjournment of the committees, said all parties were participating in the session and they had also “requested the opposition to participate”. “Aliya Kamran had informed us that they h...

The government is set to table the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate on Friday, where it will be immediately referred to the Senate Committee for review, sources confirmed.

PTI-backed independent candidate Khurram Zeeshan on Thursday was elected as a senator on the general seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The seat had fallen vacant following the disqualification of PTI leader Shibli Faraz, who was the opposition leader in the Senate, after he was convicted in cases pertaining to the May 9, 2023 riots. A minimum of 75 votes were needed to win the seat. Zeeshan won a total of 91 votes out of the 137 cast by KP lawmakers during the polling process today. He defeated opposition-backed Taj Mohammad Afridi, who was able to secure 45 votes. Out of the 145-member KP Assembly, eight lawmakers did not cast their ballots, including four Awami National Party (ANP) leaders. One vote was rejected. “Thank God,” Zeeshan said in a post on his Facebook account after his win. “Our priority is Pakistan’s haqeeqi azadi (true freedom)”, the PTI leader told reporters outside the KP Assembly earlier today, echoing a phrase used by Imran. Though three candidates were in the run for the polls, the main cont...

ISLAMABAD - The Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court Wednesday turned down Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shibli Faraz’s request to suspend the Senate election for his vacated seat saying that it would not intervene in the electoral process.

The continuing row between the PPP and PML-N escalated on Tuesday as PPP’s Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman warned the coalition ally of difficulties in the Senate without the former’s “clear support”. The PPP and the PML-N’s Punjab leadership have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues ranging from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks, whose party is also leading the federal government. Talking about the matter in an interview on DawnNewsTV show ‘Doosra Rukh’, the PPP senior vice president said: “If you want to tear apart the whole coalition then I’ve already said in the National Assembly that don’t take our inclusion on the treasury benches for granted and don’t think that we will keep you stable no matter what you do.” “If you don’t need [us] then that’s your choice, but let me remind you we are the biggest party in ...

Nation monitoring - The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has approved Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas as the leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly and Senate, respectively.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday called Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi for an urgent meeting as tensions continued to rise between the Sindh and Punjab governments, with the PPP staging a walkout from the National Assembly and Senate. The PPP and PML-N are coalition partners in the Centre. A post on X from the presidency said today that Zardari and Naqvi held a telephonic conversation related to the ongoing row between the Sindh and Punjab governments. “President Asif Ali Zardari spoke to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi over the phone to discuss the recent tensions between the Sindh and Punjab governments. The president has called the interior minister to Karachi for an urgent meeting in this regard,” the post said. The PPP and the PML-N’s Punjab leadership have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues ranging from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punj...

ISLAMABAD - The war of words continued between the main allies of treasury benches as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) staged walk out of the National Assembly and Senate sessions on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Tuesday informed the Senate that attackers detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near the FC complex in Quetta and later tried to enter the headquarters in FC uniform.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday congratulated senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah on his success in the Senate by-election.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan won the Senate by-election from Punjab on Tuesday, according to unofficial results. According to Form-56 of the election results, the government candidate Sanaullah won after getting 250 votes. The polling was held at the Punjab Assembly. Out of 363 members of the provincial legislature, 251 cast their ballots and one vote was rejected. Sanaullah and the opposition’s Salma Ejaz, wife of disqualified candidate Ejaz Chaudhry, were in the fray. However, the opposition PTI had boycotted the by-election for the seat that fell vacant due to the disqualification of party senator Chaudhry. The government alliance had a majority of 263 voters, while the opposition had the support of 100 voters. The polling process in the Punjab Assembly continued uninterrupted from 9am to 4pm. Addressing the media after his victory, Sanaullah said, “The PTI did not choose to boycott the democratic process but chose to escape from the elections. Their boycott of the...

Polling for the Senate by-election is currently underway at the Punjab Assembly Hall.

ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee on Monday invalidated the bids for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche-III project and called on the National Highway Authority (NHA) to cancel the bids and inform the project financier of its findings regarding the use of “forged” documents to secure all four contracts associated with the Rs170 billion project. The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division also called for the blacklisting of a joint venture (JV) of three firms — M/s Ningxia Communications Construction Co., Ltd NXCC, M/s Dynamic Constructors, and M/s Rustam Associates. The committee called on the NHA to write to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project financier, within two days regarding the firms’ non-compliance and the fraudulent nature of the bids. It further recommended that the Economic Affairs Division officially notify the ADB that the bids were “technically invalid and were manipulated due to the malafide intentions of NHA officials and the contractors.” Commi...

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday suspended the nomination of Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Azam Khan Swati as leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly and Senate.

ISLAMABAD - Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan has nominated Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly besides picking Senator Azam Khan Swati for the same slot in the Senate.

Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan has nominated Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai for the post of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja said on Wednesday. “Azam Khan Swati has been nominated as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate,” Raja added. He also said Imran has asked for five names to decide on his nominee for the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly. The announcement comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan earlier this month disqualified PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan as the NA opposition leader and Shibli Faraz from the same role in the Senate, along with other opposition MNAs and MPAs, following their convictions in May 9 cases. Both PTI opposition leaders were formally removed from their posts on August 8. Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Raja said that Imran had nominated Achakzai, who currently leads the Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), to take Ayub’s place. “The PTI founder has entrusted the ...

After the National Assembly, the Senate on Tuesday also passed an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, which reinserted powers granted to law enforcement authorities (LEAs) and the armed forces to detain individuals for up to three months, amid the opposition’s uproar. Last week, National Assembly had passed the amendment to the ATA. Minister of State for Interior and Narcotics Control Muhammad Tallal Badar moved the Anti-terrorism Amendment Bill 2025 to amend the ATA in the House, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. A copy of the bill, available with Dawn.com read: “The government or, where the provisions of section 4 have been invoked, the armed forces or civil armed forces, as the case maybe, subject to the specific or general order of the government in this regard, for a period not exceeding three months and after recording reasons thereof, issue order for the preventative detention of any person.” This amendment was made to sub-section (1) of Section 11EEEE of the ATA. Any person s...

Amid the opposition uproar, the Senate on Tuesday passed the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with a majority of votes by rejecting amendments proposed by JUI-F lawmaker Kamran Murtaza.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Tuesday informed the Senate that the European Union (EU) had lifted its ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), paving the way for the resumption of flights to Paris and other European destinations.