Pakistan: Upper house chairman survives no-trust motion

KARACHI, Pakistan

Chairman of Pakistan’s upper house -- the Senate -- on Thursday narrowly escaped a no-trust move by the opposition, in a major setback to the embattled opposition, which otherwise enjoys a clear majority in the house.

The government-backed Sadiq Sanjrani, who was elected as the Senate chairman in March 2018, managed to survive as the opposition could muster up 50 votes -- only 3 less than the required 53 votes.

Interestingly, some 64 lawmakers from the opposition parties -- mainly center-right Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and center-left Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- present in the house supported the no-trust move minutes before the secret ballot began.

However, according to the result announced by Senator Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, who oversaw the voting process, only 50 votes out of total 100 votes were cast in favor of the no-confidence move, whereas Sanjrani could grab 45 votes. Five votes were rejected.

The motion, however was technically rejected as the opposition failed to attain the minimum required majority of 53 lawmakers.

Two lawmakers belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) -- the country’s one of the mainstream religious parties -- abstained from the process as part of the party’s “neutral policy”.

Opposition cries foul

Five votes rejected by the presiding officer played a vital role in opposition’s defeat by only 3 votes.

Visibly shaken by an unexpected defeat, opposition accused the government of “horse-trading” -- a term used for lawmakers who change their loyalties against money.

“Today, conscience has been sold. A dark day for democracy,” said Shehbaz Sharif, opposition leader in the National Assembly -- the lower house -- and president of PML (N).

The government, for its part, rejected the horse-trading allegations.

“Opposition senators have voted for the chairman senate on the call of their conscience. There was no pressure (on them) whatsoever from government’s part,” Senator Shibli Faraz, the treasury leader in the Senate, told reporters.

Sanjrani is the first ever chairman who faced a no-trust move in the country’s 72-year checkered political history.

Hailing from southwestern Balochistan province, Sanjrani was elected with the support of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the PPP in 2018.

He, however, had virtually lost the lawmakers’ confidence after the PPP withdrew its support for him earlier this month following arrests of its leadership, including former President Asif Ali Zardari in a money laundering scam.

The PML-N of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the largest party in the upper house with 30 senators, followed by the PPP and PTI with 20 and 14 lawmakers, respectively.

In a related development, the government and its allies’ no-trust move against opposition-backed Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala was also fizzled out as the treasury side could muster up only 32 votes against him compared to required 53 votes.

The opposition lawmakers did not take part in no-confidence motion against the Deputy Chairman.