Shaukat Tarin elected as Senator from KP

Islamabad: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has been elected as a senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Monday in the by-election for a general seat of the Senate.

The election was held at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, which began at 9am and ended at 4pm.

Shaukat Tarin became successful after gaining 87 votes. KP Health Minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra said that four votes were rejected and five MNAs were absent due to some personal reasons.

Earlier, the polling started at 9am and continued till 4pm where 145 lawmakers of the KP Assembly exercised their right to vote to elect a member for Senate.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Senate seat fell vacant after Ayub Afridi resigned as a member of the upper house. He stepped down on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan to create a seat for Shaukat Tarin in the Senate.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) enjoys majoring in the house as Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin is considered as the strongest contender for the slot compared to other candidates.

JUI-F’s Tahir Shah, ANP’s Shaukat Amirzada, and PPP’s Malik Saeed are also in the run for the seat.

PTI has 96 members in the 145-strong provincial assembly and therefore, defeating Shaukat Tarin in the by-election is an uphill task for the opposition parties.

Tarin was appointed the federal finance minister on Apr 16, 2021, and served against that post for six months. As he was not a parliamentarian, he couldn’t hold that office beyond six months.

He had to relinquish that post prompting the prime minister to appoint him his adviser on finance and revenue.