Senate | Pakistan

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday presented the Finance Bill 2025 in the Senate, in line with Article 73 of the Constitution, inviting recommendations from the upper house on the government’s fiscal roadmap for the upcoming financial year.

ISLAMABAD - Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday laid a copy of the Finance Bill for the next fiscal year before the Senate amidst a protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led opposition benches.

ISLAMABAD: In a move that has raised eyebrows, the government has approved over fivefold increase in the salaries of Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker taking it to Rs1.3 million a month. A May 29 notification reveals that the Senate chairman and NA speaker’s salaries have been raised from Rs205,000 to Rs1.3m, besides 50pc of the revised salary (Rs650,000) as the sumptuary allowance. The hike, with retrospective effect, has become effective in January 2025. A senior NA Secretariat official, while confirming the development, said the raise for the two offices had been made for the first time since January 2016. Move draws criticism from within ruling PML-N; ANP demands its reversal In March, the salaries and allowances of federal cabinet members had been increased by up to 188pc. Earlier, the finance comm­ittees of the two houses of parliament had approved an increase in the salaries of MNAs and senators, raising it to Rs519,000. Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique slammed the pay raise for the...

The U.S. Senate is set to move ahead next week with a bill imposing more sanctions on Russia over its three-year-old war in Ukraine, Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, was accompanied on a visit to Kyiv by Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal […]

The chairman of the Senate standing committee on finance and revenue, former finance minister Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, said on Tuesday that the upcoming budget will further burden the people due to an increase in the petroleum levy. He was also critical of the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) performance, especially in terms of the Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS). Under the TDS, taxes were to be collected from shopkeepers at a fixed rate of Rs100 to Rs60,000 per month based on the fair market value of the stores and sales. The scheme was implemented to bring traders and wholesalers into the formal tax structure to fulfill the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) requirement. The former finance minister said the FBR had failed to bring more people under tax net, while responding to a query on DawnNewsTV show ‘Doosra Rukh’ on the board’s inability to raise Rs5.6 million under the TDS. Mandviwalla criticised the “1960’s system” at the FBR and emphasised on the need to introduce officers who could use technology to imp...

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the election for the vacant general seat from Punjab in Senate on May 29. The seat fell vacant following the demise of Senator Professor Sajid Mir on May 3, 2025, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. According to a notification by the provincial election commissioner, the nomination papers may be filed on May 14 and 15 for the election that will be held at the Punjab Assembly. The names of the nominated candidates will be published on May 16. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on May 17 while appeals against their acceptance or rejection will be filed on May 20. The appeals will be disposed of on May 22. The revised list of candidates will be published on May 23, while the candidature may be withdrawn by May 24. The polling will be held at the Punjab Assembly chambers between 9am to 4pm. The nomination papers may be received from the Punjab ECP office on 10-Court Street in Lahore during the office hours. Notable religious and political ...

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued the schedule for the by-election on the vacant Senate seat following the demise of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Prof. Sajid Mir. According to a notification issued by the ECP, the polling will take place on May 29 in the Punjab Assembly building. According to the […]

KARACHI - Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians- PPPP’s Syed Waqar Mehdi won the by-election on the vacant general seat of the Senate from the province of Sindh held at the Sindh Assembly here on Tuesday.

PPP’s Syed Waqar Mehdi won the by-election held for the vacant general seat of the Senate from the province of Sindh in Karachi on Tuesday, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The ruling PPP and the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had nominated Waqar Mehdi and Nighat Mirza, respectively. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) did not field any candidate and on Monday it announced boycotting the polling process as well. In the by-election held at the Sindh Assembly, Mehdi secured 111 votes, while MQM-P’s Nighat Mirza received 36, and two were rejected, said the returning officer, Provincial Election Commissioner Sindh Ejaz Anwar Chauhan. The polling was conducted from 9am to 4pm without any break. A total of 149 votes were cast during the scheduled polling time. The general Senate seat from Sindh province fell vacant after the death of PPP’s Senator Taj Haider on April 8 in Karachi. He was elected a senator on a PPP ticket from a Senate general seat in Sindh in March 2021 for a period o...

Polling is currently underway at the Sindh Assembly to fill the vacant general seat in the Senate, following the passing of veteran PPP Senator Taj Haider.

The Senate of Pakistan passed a unanimous resolution rejecting India's allegations linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), labelling them as baseless and politically motivated. The resolution, presented during the Senate session, strongly condemned all forms of terrorism and emphasised that targeting innocent civilians goes against Pakistan's core values. It also denounced India's orchestrated propaganda campaign and unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, terming it a violation that could be interpreted as an act of war. The resolution warned that Pakistan is fully capable of defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression. It reaffirmed the country’s unwavering support for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination and demanded accountability from India for its acts of terrorism and targeted assassinations abroad, including on Pakistani soil. The resolution was in response to India's unilateral and frivolous ...