Opposition submits no-trust motion against Senate chairman

The opposition members also submits a requisition to convene Senate’s session

ISLAMABAD: As efforts to ramp up pressure on the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government gain momentum, opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a no-trust motion against Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani to the secretary of the Upper House.

"For the first time, a no-trust motion against a Senate chairman has been submitted. We will take the procedure further from here as per the law,” said Secretary Senate Mohammad Anwar.

“Senate Secretariat is looking in the matter. The authority to convene the session on the requisition of the opposition rests with the Senate. The session is bound to be convened in 14 days,” added the secretary.

“Only on the day, when this resolution will be tabled; Senate chairman will not be able to chair the session.”



The motion was submitted by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Abbasi and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam’s (JUI-F) Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.

The opposition also submitted a request to convene a Senate session. Parties opposed to the PTI government will also submit a name for a new Senate chairman by July 11.

On July 5, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Akram Khan Durrani had told the media that the opposition parties had formally decided to de-seat the senate chairman.

Durrani had announced that the opposition parties would observe the anniversary of the 2018 general elections on July 25 as a ‘black day’ and stage protest rallies on a provincial level.

The committee said it would write a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asking it to withdraw its notification wherein it had decided to deploy the army both inside and outside polling stations during elections in the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas.



The opposition parties also asked their members to resign from the parliamentary committee formed to probe into the allegations of rigging in the 2018 general elections.

Durrani had expressed his concerns over a “new political order” taking shape in the country.