- Senate chairman should be a mediator rather than a gladiator
The Senate is complete after the election of 52 Senators. Electing a new chairman is on the agenda now With the PTI lagging far behind with only 12 seats, the real competition is between the ruling PML-N and PPP. The urge to control the Senate as the first step to control the Parliament has become all the more intense in the PML-N after Nawaz Sharif declared that the next general elections would be a referendum against the verdict that disqualified him and called on the voters to strengthen his hands in what he termed “a sacred war” for the restoration of the vote’s respect..
With the highest court of the country having disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office, there is no legal remedy that he can avail to be able to lead the party that carries his name or become the prime minister once again. Sharif, who remains un-reconciled to the judgment, is eyeing the only way left to resume his political career. He is determined to bring about constitutional amendments that can undo the judgment. Encouraged by the size of his public meetings he has been led to believe that the next NA is already in his pocket. What he wants now is to put a daring loyalist in the Senate Chairman’s seat to maneuver the required numbers from the upper house for legislating the amendments.
While the strategy is bound to bring the parliament and judiciary into confrontation, there is little hope of its success. The PML-N and its allies might turn into a bloc enjoying simple majority in the Senate but any move to undo the SC verdict is likely to be resisted by other parties like the PPP and PTI as a person specific amendment, making a two thirds majority needed for Constitutional amendment an un-realiseable dream.
What the Senate needs is a consensus chairman, irrespective of the party he belongs to, who can create bridges with other institutions and bring down the prevailing tension rather than a partisan who adds to friction and discord.
