Sanjrani says he won't resign

Senate chairman unfazed by call for him to quit

ISLAMABAD: With the government and opposition set to battle it out in the Senate session on Thursday (today) for the top seat, Sadiq Sanjrani — the chairman of the upper house of parliament – has decided against stepping down before the vote and is determined to fight it out till the end.

"We won't leave the field open for the opponents," the Senate chairman told reporters in an informal chat.

Separately in a statement, Sanjrani said he had run the house without any discrimination and it was time to see if the senators would vote in accordance with their conscience.



Voting will also take place on the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies' no-confidence motion against deputy chairman Saleem Mandviwalla.

The opposition will need 53 votes to de-seat the chairman and it claims that it has more than enough – the backing of 63 senators. However, as it will be a secret ballot, there is no saying if the opposition's plans will pan out.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday hosted a luncheon In Islamabad that was attended by all opposition senators. They chalked out a strategy for the success of their no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman and Senator Raza Rabbani briefed them on the voting process.



Speaking to the media after the luncheon, Bilawal said it would be wise for the Senate chairman to step down before the vote so that he could spare himself from the embarrassment.

"He will be sent packing tomorrow in any case. We have enough numbers to de-seat him," he added.

National Party's (NP) Senator Hasil Bizenjo, the opposition's joint candidate for the top Senate slot, told the media that he had already won on the day he was nominated by the parties. "Only one opposition senator, Chaudhry Tanveer, will be absent because he is abroad. Senator Kamran Michael [who is in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau over a corruption case] will attend the session on a production order," he added.

Bizenjo later hosted a dinner for the senators and leaders of the opposition parties in Islamabad. There were 62 senators present at the dinner. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Vice President Maryam Nawaz, PPP's Raza Rabbani and Khursheed Shah and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman were also there.



Speaking on the occasion, Bizenjo said winning was not important to him and what really mattered was the success of the opposition's campaign.

"Not accepting the joint opposition's decision would mean not placing your trust in your leadership," he told the senators.

Maryam said it was finally time for the opposition to respond to the attack on democracy.

"The mindset that believes in creating divisions in political parties using dirty tactics will suffer a huge setback tomorrow," she added.

The total number of Senate seats is 104. The PPP, the PML-N, the Awami National Party (ANP), the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and other opposition parties have 66 senators. The ruling PTI and its allies only have 38 members in the house. There are currently 103 senators as Ishaq Dar of the PML-N is yet to take oath. Without him the PML-N has 30 senators, 17 of them independents who had later joined the party. The PPP has 21, the NP five, the JUI-F and the PkMAP four each, the Jamaat-e-Islami two and ANP one.

The PTI has 14 senators.  Its ally, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) of which Sanjrani is a member has eight. Seven senators from the erstwhile Fata are also with the ruling party. Its other allies, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has five members and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) one each.

The agenda for the day has been sent to the Senate secretary for approval. The ballot papers for the voting have been printed.