- MQM says lack of coordination with opposition leader’s chamber a major cause of defeat
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the ruling party in the centre on Friday, got through with a crucial clause of ‘Election Reforms Bill 2017’, paving way for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to be elected as his party president, due to lack of coordination, ill-planning and confusion among the ranks of various parties.
According to reports, several lawmakers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) would now face disciplinary action for abstaining to vote on the clause of the bill. Well-placed sources in the PPP, MQM and PTI have revealed they have decided to issue show cause notices to their senators, who remained absent from the proceedings on one pretext or another.
A source in the PPP said that all the opposition members of the Senate had been issued a legislative alert by the chamber of the leader of the opposition, and all had been persuaded to ensure their presence in the crucial session. However, the source added, despite repeated reminders, former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik, Senator Osman Saifullah and Senator Saifullah Bangash remained absent from the session, which cost the opposition dearly.
All the three remained mysteriously absent despite a three-day call (reminder), the source said, adding that the party would definitely issue show cause notices to the three lawmakers.
The source also said that both Rehman Malik and Osman Saifullah had been abroad and would be issued the notices soon.
When contacted, Senator Rehman Malik said, “I am still abroad and will return and respond,” adding that he had taken a formal approval of the visit abroad from former president Asif Zardari to attend to an ailing family member.
When asked if he had received any legislative alerts from chambers of the leader of the opposition, Malik said that “his Pakistani phone didn’t work on roaming”. He added, “I will respond accordingly to the leadership. There was no idea, before my departure, of such a bill coming up for a vote in the said week.”
The source said that the PPP leadership had also contacted some lawmakers of MQM and were shocked to know that they had no plans to attend the session.
According to reports, the absence of four members of MQM—which has a strength of eight members in the Senate—largely helped the PML-N steal with the specific clause in their favour.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, the deputy parliamentary leader of the MQM in the house, said that lack of coordination with the opposition leader’s chambers had led to the confusion. He added that the opposition leader did not take the members into confidence on his plan to remove the clause in the bill.
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Shahi Syed said that his party had no plans to attend the session, which was useless due to lack of opposition’s strength and successive defeats on several clauses. He informed that once the ANP lawmakers departed, some PTI members also left.
When asked to comment on the absence of his other party colleagues and the decision by Senator Mian Attique to vote for the treasury benches, Saif said the ailing Senator Nasreen Jalil could not attend the session due to protracted illness while Senator Dr Farogh Nasim was busy in Karachi. “Senator Tanvir Thanvi gives a sermon on Fridays so he did not come,” he added.
He also said that he was shocked to see his party colleague Mian Attique voting for the government’s bill, and, despite several warnings, he extended his support to the treasury. He added that the party would definitely take action against the senator for violation of party discipline.
Mian Attique, however, responded to this, saying that the party had issued no specific direction about the bill. “Neither the parliamentary leader nor the deputy parliamentary leader issued any instruction to me so I voted out of my conscience,” he said.
When contacted, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that his party had already decided to take disciplinary action against its two senators and said, “Yes, we are issuing [show cause] notices to both the senators.”
Defending his absence, PTI Senator Nauman Wazir said that he had been present in the session since morning, and only left after the opposition staged a boycott. “Later, we left for Friday prayers and did not receive any calls afterwards,” he concluded.