–64-senator strong Opp’s motion against incumbent Senate chief falls short of three votes
–Mandviwalla retains deputy chairmanship by defeating govt-led resolution
–Bilawal, Shehbaz accuse govt of indulging in horse-trading, vow action against ‘backstabbers’
ISLAMABAD: In a rude shock to the joint opposition on Thursday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and its allies were able to save Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani from ouster despite the opposition having a clear majority in the Upper House of Parliament.
As the session chaired by Barrister Muhammad Saif started in the day, the opposition moved a motion seeking Sanjrani’s removal which was endorsed by 64 senators.
Both Leader of House Shibli Faraz and Leader of Opposition Raja Zafarul Haq forgo the debate on the motion and agreed to send it to the secret balloting.
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.
The ruling PTI and its allies have 36 senators, meaning that nine opposition senators voted for Sanjrani. There were also three abstentions: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Chaudhry Tanvir, who has reportedly fallen ill, was not in attendance, whereas two Jamaat-e-Islami members decided to abstain from the proceedings.
The government and its allies constituted the remaining 36 members, all of whom were present on voting day.
“I am thankful for both treasury and opposition benches for voting for me,” Sanjrani said after his victory. He was also congratulated by Prime Minister Imran Khan on his win in a phone call.
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Saleem Mandviwalla, Senate’s deputy chairman, also managed to retain his spot by defeating a motion filed by the government senators against him.
This is the first time the Upper House of parliament has seen no-confidence motions being moved against its chairman and deputy chairman. The motion against Sanjrani was submitted by opposition members last month. A similar motion was submitted by the government senators against Senate Deputy Chairman Mandviwala in a tit-for-tat move.
‘BLATANT HORSE-TRADING’:
Addressing a press conference after the election upset, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari vowed to take action against opposition senators who defied party policy and voted against the no-confidence motion against the Senate chief.
“We will look into our party to see which of [our members] came under pressure or sold their conscience,” a visibly angry Bilawal said.
“Some petty senators stabbed their parties in the back, we will take them to task,” he said.
The PPP chairman was speaking to the media after a meeting with opposition leaders that was held hours after Sanjrani shockingly survived a no-confidence motion even though government senators did not have a majority. Mere hours before the final result, the resolution to move a no-confidence vote against Sanjrani had been passed comfortably by opposition senators, with 64 voting in its favour.
Bilawal, in his press talk, was flanked by PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ahsan Iqbal, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq among others.
Bilawal said that though its no-confidence motion had been thwarted in the Senate, the joint opposition will “not let the puppet government off the hook”.
“They (government) should not think that we, the joint opposition will let them off the hook … We are calling an All Parties Conference, we will fight this battle in the Senate, we will introduce reforms to ensure transparent Senate elections, we will look at the Rules and we will oppose this Senate chairman,” Bilawal said.
“If this puppet government thinks it can establish its rule by rigging and stealing, that would not be the case.”
He further said that the opposition had “won even in defeat because we exposed these puppet senators and Senate chairman”.
Bilawal also lauded Senator Hasil Bizenjo — who had been named by the joint opposition as a candidate for Senate chairman’s position — for “fighting the way he did”.
Addressing the reporters, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said that the joint opposition will work to “identify those who sold their conscience”. He said that the opposition will lay out a roadmap after an all-party conference.
It is pertinent to mention that PPP was one of the major supporters of Sanjrani’s election as Senate chairman during the upper house’s polls that were held last year. Many observers credited PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari for playing a role in Sanjrani’s victory.
PPP SENATORS TENDER RESIGNATIONS:
Following the arguably unexpected outcome, all 21 of the PPP senators submitted their resignations to the party chairman.
When asked to comment on the development, Bilawal said: “My party is an idealogical party, one that has principles, and which has struggled for democracy. As a matter of principle, all 21 of my senators have submitted their resignations to me, as party chairman.”
He said that other parties, like the PPP, will also investigate how such an upset in the no-confidence vote occurred.
“How was it that the vote of 14 senators from the time of the standing up vote to the secret ballot was forcibly changed?”
He said that a video had turned viral on social media in which he claimed the presiding officer of the election who was charged with counting the votes can be seen saying “54 votes for this resolution” which would have meant that Sanjrani’s time as Senate chairman had come to an end.
Bilawal alleged that just like the general elections results “in which the results that were announced were markedly different from the ballot papers cast and some were rejected and it all remains unclear to this day”, this time too, rigging had taken place under the guise of “rejected votes”.
He said it was a sad day for the federation, the Senate, and for democracy. “But as the chairman of the PPP, I have not lost hope. I will continue to struggle and the way we unmasked the government, we stand victorious despite our defeat.”
