Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani informed former finance minister and PML-N leader Ishaq Dar on Tuesday that his desire to take the oath through video link is ‘unconstitutional,’ and thus rejected.
Sanjrani has made it clear in his response to Dar’s letter that if he wishes to take the oath of office as a senator, he must come to the House. “It is clearly stated in Rule 6 of the Senate Business Rules that a senator-elect may take the oath of office only inside the House, and not elsewhere,” he wrote to the PML-N leader, who is currently in self-imposed exile in London.
“There is no provision in the statute authorizing the administration of the oath through video or audio link,” the Senate chairman states.
On February 10, 2022, 24News reported that former finance minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar has communicated his intention to take the oath of office as a senator to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.
Ishaq Dar stated in a letter to the Senate chairman, which he also provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), that with the Supreme Court’s (SC) rejection of a civil appeal on December 21, 2021, the apex court’s own May 8, 2018 order suspending his Senate membership ceased to be effective.
“And it is in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling that the ECP was forced to subsequently retract its order suspending my election to the Upper House of Parliament,” the former finance minister writes, adding that he was ready to take the oath of office now that legal barriers had been lifted.
At the same time, the PML-N leader has informed the Senate chairman that because he is receiving treatment in the United Kingdom, he would be unable to present in person in the Senate; as a result, he has requested that arrangements be made for his oath-taking via video link. “And, if that is not practicable, the chairman may, pursuant to article 255 of the Senate’s rules and regulations, request that the oath be administered to me by Pakistan’s high commissioner in London.”
