Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Sunday that his party has established contact with all opposition parties for the purpose of electing its own chairman in the Senate.
“We are making efforts to elect a Senate chairman from our party with the support of other opposition parties,” he said during a news conference in Karachi. “We are yet to make contact with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for talks on this issue,” he added.
Bilawal said that PPP enjoyed a larger representation in the Senate because the PML-N had yet to secure the alliances of independent senators. He said that the PML-N had the right to elect its chairman in the Senate if it had the support of the majority. He also ruled out any chances of horse-trading in the recently concluded polls and termed the overall process transparent, especially in Sindh.
Commenting on allegations against his party, the PPP chairman said that allegations of horse-trading were unfounded, adding that certain political parties were targeting PPP in order to cover up their own shortcomings.
Furthermore, denying allegations that PPP ousted the previous Balochistan government, he said that this criticism was not new to his party and its leadership. He also said that his party would talk to independent senators from Balochistan and seek their support.
It is important to mention here that PML-N candidates had to contest the Senate seats as independents after the Supreme Court’s order of February 21 that barred PML-N candidates, finalised by former party president Nawaz Sharif, to contest the elections from the said party. In total, the ruling party won 15 seats in Saturday’s Senate polls.
On the other hand, PPP performed quite well in the elections to become the second largest party in the National Assembly (NA). The party bagged a total of 12 seats by winning important seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not match up to expectations and could only secure six seats.
