Govt, opposition sharpen knives as Senate meets today

Opposition claims having magical number to de-seat Sanjrani

ISLAMABAD: The treasury and the opposition made last-ditch preparations, as the Senate meets today (Tuesday) to take up the no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition against Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

Opposition members of the upper house of parliament met on Monday to discuss the strategy for Tuesday’s (today) requisitioned session and decided to hold another meeting before the sitting of the house.

Sherry Rehman, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) told reporters that the opposition senators had a meeting on Monday which, she claimed, was attended by 62 lawmakers. “The opposition will meet again tomorrow,” she added.



The meeting of the opposition senators, held at the Banquette Hall of the Senate, was chaired by Opposition Leader Raja Zafarul Haq. Opposition Leader in National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif was also present.

Rehman said that now no tactic would succeed against opposition’s no-confidence motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. "Writing on the wall is obvious. Any move to delay the voting on the no-confidence motion will be a violation of the Constitution," the PPP leader said.

Monday’s meeting, also attended by the opposition's candidate for the Senate chairman, Hasil Bizenjo, discussed the opposition strategy for the requisitioned session of the upper house. Discussion was also held on the no-confidence motion to be taken up on August 1.

Addressing the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif said that jails were being filled with political prisoners. "The economy is destroyed and the prime minister's economic team has become a joke," Shehbaz said, firing a broadside against the government.

"Unemployment is at its height, bread price has reached Rs20 and yet the prime minister does not know how the poor people eke out a living," he added. "We should learn a lesson from the past and improve the system."

Opposition Senator Javed Abbasi later told media persons that the meeting was attended by 62 senators. "Our two more senators, Gen [retd] Abdul Qayyum and Chaudhry Tanveer will return from abroad after which the opposition's strength will increase to 64," he added.



Abbasi expressed reservations on calling the July 30 session on the no-confidence motion. "The motion should have been taken up in tomorrow's session," he said. "We condemn government's attempts at horse trading."

Sherry Rehman also claimed that around three to four more senators would join the opposition’s ranks in the meeting on Tuesday (today), adding however, that the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) might not participate in the voting on the no-confidence motion.

The Senate secretariat on Monday issued a one-point agenda for the Senate session on July 23. The session will discuss a resolution, submitted by the opposition, regarding the removal of the chairman.

Senator Mussadiq Malik of the PML-N said that the opposition parties have decided to table the motion of no-confidence against Sanjarani in Tuesday’s session. “The opposition will hold a very strong protest if denied permission to table the motion,” he said.

The treasury side, on the other hand, disputed the opposition's claims about the numbers. "The opposition members are our colleagues and they are in touch with us," said Shibli Faraz, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Leader of the House in the Senate.

"Most of the opposition senators are unhappy. Only 26 attended today’s meeting," he said, adding that the lawmakers from the tribal districts had gone to their hometowns for the provincial assembly elections. He added that the PML-Functional and the Awami National Party (ANP) "are on our side".

In the latest development, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal arrived in the federal capital to garner support for the Senate chairman.

Soon after his arrival, he went into a session with Sanjrani to take stock of the latest situation and discussed with him different options to ward off the opposition move.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak were also present in the meeting.