Malik takes oath as senator, PML-N stages walk out

Newly elected member of the Senate, Rehman Malik took oath as Senator on Friday. Chairman Senate Nayyar Bukhari administered the oath.
Rehman Malik was elected unopposed as a senator on technocrat seat from Sindh.
Lawmakers of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) staged a walk out from the Senate over the summoning of an emergency session which they alleged was expressly called for Rehman Malik’s oath-taking.
Friday’s session of the Senate began under the chairmanship of Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and Malik was administered oath of office soon after.
Earlier this week, Malik had been elected unopposed at a by-election in the same seat for the Senate which he held prior to his June suspension, paving the way for him to be reconfirmed as a cabinet minister.
The Supreme Court had suspended Malik from parliament on June 4 for allegedly running for the Senate in 2009 while still holding British citizenship.
During today’s Senate session, Senator Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N inquired over the rationale behind summoning an emergency session, adding that, the cost of holding a session of the upper house of parliament was rupees 16000000.
Moreover, PML-N’s Senator Ishaq Dar said that Friday’s session was not in accordance with the Senate’s calendar, adding that, if this was how the government intended to conduct matters, there were little chances of improvement in the future. The PML-N members staged a walkout from the House.
During the session, Senator Saeed Ghani of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said that the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board was not fulfilling its responsibilities, adding proper chlorination of water supplied to the city was not being done leading to deaths due to waterborne infections.
Senator Ghani urged that the government should take action on the issue.
Subsequently, the upper house’s session was adjourned to July 30.