Senate | Pakistan

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.

LAHORE - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has granted a Senate ticket to the senior party leader Rana Sanaullah Khan for a general seat from the Punjab Assembly.

• House unanimously passes resolution reaffirming commitment to sovereignty • Internet service across Balochistan to stay suspended until 31st, lawmakers told • PML-N legislator accuses govt of ‘copying’ his bill ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has assured the Senate that the release of an official advertisement on Independence Day, without a portrait of the country’s founder Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, would be investigated. “It is not in our notice. If it has happened, this is heart-afflicting for all,” he told the upper house of parliament on Friday. He assured that an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain how it happened and the house will be formally informed about the progress. The government had come under fire from political and social circles over the official advertisement issued by the Ministry of Information, which omitted images of the Quaid-i-Azam and national poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal. The advertisement, published in major national newspapers and aired on television channe...

PESHAWAR - The Peshawar High Court (PHC) yesterday barred the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker from appointing leaders of opposition in their respective Houses.

ISLAMABAD - The opposition and the treasury on Tuesday traded barbs in the Senate over ‘convictions and disqualifications’ of the PTI lawmakers, with the former questioning the integrity of judiciary and the latter advising the convicts to adopt legal recourse.

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order for the appointments of new opposition leaders in the National Assembly and the Senate following the disqualification and removal of PTI’s Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz from their respective roles. On August 5, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Ayub and Faraz, along with other opposition MNAs and MPAs, following their convictions in three cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots. Subsequently, on August 8, both leaders were removed from their posts through notifications issued by the NA and Senate secretariats. A division bench comprising Justices Arshad Ali and Dr Khurshid Iqbal took up separate petitions filed earlier today by Ayub and Faraz against the denotification of their parliamentary roles. PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan appeared as the counsel for both petitioners. The bench issued notices to the ECP and other respondents, directing them to halt the appointments for the opposition leader in both houses of...

PTI’s Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan and Opposition Leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, were removed from their seats, according to notifications by the respective houses’ secretariats that came to light on Friday. On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified the Senate and National Assembly opposition leaders, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza and other PTI lawmakers following their convictions in cases related to the May 9 riots. According to the notification by the National Assembly Secretariat dated August 7, “ Consequent upon disqualification and de-notification of Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan from being a member of the National Assembly (NA-18 Haripur) under Article 63 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan … the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly has become vacant with effect from August 5th, 2025.“ A similar notification for Faraz was issued by the Senate Secretariat: “Consequent upon disq...

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday disqualified the Senate and National Assembly opposition leaders, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza and other PTI lawmakers following their convictions in cases related to the May 9 riots. On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested. An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad last week senten­ced over 100 leaders and workers of the PTI, including several key opposition figures, to jail terms of up to 10 years in connection with the May 9 riots. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, Opposition Leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, MNA Zartaj Gul, Raza, Sheikh Rashid Shafique (nephew of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid), Kanwal Shauzab, Fara...