–PML-N leader says fresh no-confidence motion should be moved to de-seat Sanjrani
–Firdous terms Senate chief Sanjrani’s survival vindication of PM Imran’s narrative
LAHORE: The joint opposition on Thursday failed to outvote Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani from the office despite having a clear majority in the Upper House of parliament.
However, needing only 53 of the 64 votes to send Sanjrani home, the opposition instead fell three short when the final results ballot were announced. The final vote count was 50 votes in favour of the motion, five votes rejected, and 45 cast against.
Alleging the government of indulging in horse-trading, opposition leaders including Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz, termed the failure of the no-trust motion a “robbery in broad daylight”.
“The ones with 65 votes (the opposition) lost. The ones with 36 votes won. Pakistanis, do you understand the 2018 election now?” she tweeted.
Just in from Senate: Opposition needed 3 more votes to win.
5 cancelled in total: 4 based upon a clear pattern of double stamping, and one stamped squarely between the two candidates.— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 1, 2019
“The game of breaking a few votes through threats is not something to be proud of, it is a shameful act which cannot succeed every time. Democratic forces should snatch their right without any fear,” the opposition leader said in another tweet.
“Forgery has to be erased one day,” she added, suggesting that a fresh no-confidence motion should be introduced to de-seat Sanjrani.
“14 betrayers & backstabbers. Should be identified, named, shamed & sorted out,” she added in another tweet.
Backstabbers * https://t.co/NMoMLFVka7
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 1, 2019
On the other hand, while allegations of foul play emerged from the opposition side, officeholders in the current government celebrated.
PM’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the narrative of Prime Minister Imran Khan has been vindicated, as a majority of the Senators had rejected the Opposition’s move to remove Sanjrani.
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari also congratulated Sanjrani, noting that the resolution for his removal had been “defeated by a big margin!”.
Congratulations to Chairman Senate Sanjrani – resolution for his removal defeated by a big margin!
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) August 1, 2019
In the interaction with reporters after the voting, PTI Senator Shibli Faraz rejected the impression that senators had been bought out.
“All senators, whether they are from the opposition or the treasury, are all honourable people. At least for this election, I guarantee [there was no horsetrading].”
Faraz said the opposition’s movement has failed.
Blaming Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for ‘using’ the opposition for his own political gains, he said:
“Despite having no political leverage, Fazl used this no-confidence motion for his own politics and I regret that with this, other major political parties were used.”
He accused Fazl of using Islam as a shield and went on to accuse the major political parties — PPP and PML-N — of bringing a no-trust move against Sanjrani to save themselves from accountability. “Our opposition leaders themselves realised that the vote was wrong and it is with their support that we rendered the no-trust motion unsuccessful,” he said.
The leader of the Senate said that the government has no hard feelings toward the opposition and that both sides have to move forward together to vote in legislation for the benefit of the people.
“This is not just Sadiq Sanjrani’s victory, it is the institution’s victory,” he added.
He said that not only did the outcome ensure that democracy is stabilised but it did not let the image of the institution be tarnished.
