Zardari turns tables on Nawaz, dashes govt’s Senate hopes

–Sadiq Sanjrani, Saleem Mandviwalla become chairman, deputy chairman of Senate, respectively

–Sanjrani bags 57 votes against Zafarul Haq’s 46; Mandviwalla outruns Kakar by securing 54 votes

–PM Abbasi’s son scuffles with PTI MNA during election proceedings

ISLAMABAD: Marred with political tribulations, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) faced a major setback on Monday when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led opposition alliance easily defeated the dominant ruling clique and clinched the top slots of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

In the polling that started at 4pm, independent Senator Mir Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, who was favoured by independent senators from Balochistan, PPP, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), bagged 57 votes against PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq’s 46 votes, who was supported by PML-N allies — PkMAP and National Party (NP), PML-Functional and Awami National Party (ANP).

Following the victory of Sanjrani, he was sworn in by Presiding Officer Sardar Yaqoob Nasar to hold the election for the deputy chairman in which PML-N backed Usman Khan Kakar was pitched against PPP’s Saleem Mandviwalla.

This came as yet another blow to the PML-N as Mandviwalla too defeated PKMAP’s Usman Kakar by securing 54 votes against Kakar’s 42 votes. Subsequently, Mandviwalla was sworn in as the deputy chairman of the house by the newly elected chairman. However, in the deputy chairman’s election, the MQM-P refrained from supporting the opposition alliance, citing PPP’s vindictive attitude towards it in the urban Sindh regions.

Even before the polling, Sanjrani appeared quite confident of his victory as he was supported by almost all the major parties of the country, which had taken his tally to 51. Moreover, he had also hinted at some votes from the ruling PML-N.

On the other hand, the PML-N leadership looked visibly perturbed as Senator Asif Kirmani kept going from one chair to another, whispering in the ears of various party leaders during the polling. Regarding the role of JUI-F, the ruling party’s ally, observers said perhaps Sanjrani and Mandviwala got additional votes from the JUI-F senators who had claimed to vote for the ruling coalition.

The victories of both candidates, however, were celebrated by the opposition bloc, with slogans and cheers in favour of Asif Zardari, who is considered to be the mastermind of these victories.

After the victory of the PPP-backed nominee, the house echoed with pro-Zardari slogans, Ik Zardari sb py bhari which led to a scuffle during the proceedings. The brief scuffle between Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi’s son Abdullah Abbasi and PTI lawmaker Hamidul Haq ensued on the issue of the sloganeering. However, both were shown out of the house following the altercation.

Earlier in the day,103 senators, excluding former finance minister Ishaq Dar, met at the Parliament House to take oaths and elect the chairman and deputy chairman of the upper house, respectively.

The oath was administered by the Presiding Officer Yaqoob Nasar after which the senators were invited to sign the member rolls. Only Ishaq Dar did not take the oath as he is undergoing ‘medical treatment’ in London. His election as a senator is also being contested in the Supreme Court.

In last minute wheelings and dealings for the top posts in the upper house which ostensibly dashed all hopes of the PML-N’s victory, eight FATA members had announced their support for Sanjrani, while the MQM-P’s Bahadurabad group said it would not support Saleem Mandviwalla for the post of deputy chairman while agreeing to support Sanjrani.

The result of the top slots was no different than the Senate polls of March 3, in which the PPP had stolen the PML-N’s thunder by depriving it of at least six seats from Balochistan and gaining two from KP.

In February this year, Asif Ali Zardari had claimed that “he can put an end to the PML-N government whenever he wants” and later endorsed this statement by giving the example of Balochistan government, where the dissident faction of the PML-N rebelled against the party and ousted then CM Sanaullah Zehri. The current CM, Quddus Bizenjo, remained at the frontline as Zardari’s manoeuvred the PTI and FATA senators.

And now, in the race for top slots of the upper house, Zardari has worked his charm by bringing all the opposition parties together.

Prior to the Senate polls, Asif Ali Zardari had claimed that the chairman will be from the PPP.

Speaking to a rally in May 2017, he challenged the PML-N that the PPP will again clinch the Senate chairmanship and it will win the general elections as well. Zardari’s claim had given rise to speculations about the rampant horse-trading during the Senate polls.

According to reports making rounds in the mainstream media, billions of rupees have been spent to buy votes for the top Senate seats.

SENATE POLLS:

On March 3, the ruling PML-N established dominance in the Senate despite PPP’s surprising performance in the 52-seat contest.

In the elections held for 52 seats in the Senate, the PML-N and allies took their Senate tally to 46, becoming the largest party in Senate. PML-N won 11 seats from Punjab and two each from Islamabad and KPK. PPP, winning 10 seats from Sindh and 2 from KPK, managed 12 seats. PTI bagged 5 seats from KPK and one from Punjab.

Two candidates of the JUI-F, PkMAP and NP each, one candidate from each of the MQM, Jamaat-i-Islami and PML-F, were successful as well. In addition, 12 of the seats went to the independent candidates.