Shaukat Tarin sworn in as senator

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin was sworn in as a senator after he won the by-election for a general seat in the Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

Tarin bagged 87 votes, while according to KP Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, four votes were rejected and five lawmakers did not partake in the elections.

The seat fell vacant last month after PTI’s Ayub Afridi had resigned from the Senate to make way for Tarin. As per the rules, when a seat falls vacant, the Election Commission of Pakistan is bound to hold elections on it within 30 days.

It should be noted that to get elected, a candidate needs more than 50% votes of the 145 members. The PTI has 94 members in the provincial assembly, the JUI-F has 15, ANP 12, PML-N 7, PPP five, the Balochistan Awami Party four, Jamaat-e-Islami three, and the PML-Q each have one member.

The government is set to present a Rs360 billion mini-budget before the Parliament later this week for withdrawal of General Sales Tax (GST) exemptions and slapping standard rate of 17% on import of essential consumable and industrial goods.

It was important for Tarin to get elected as a senator as according to the rules, only lawmakers can present the budget in Parliament.

A day earlier, the ECP had issued a notification for Tarin's election as a senator.