PPP body meets to identify 14 'defectors' in Senate

The fact-finding committee will hold its next sitting after Eid

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) fact-finding committee formed to identify the 14 senators, who voted against their own parties' no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman, was held its first meeting on Tuesday at the Parliament House.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, Farhatullah Babar, Nayyar Bukhari, Sabir Baloch, Saeed Ghani and other party leaders participated in the meeting.

The participants of the meeting chalked out a procedure for ascertaining the reasons behind the opposition's Senate debacle.

After the inquiry, the committee will submit its report to the party leadership. The next meeting of the fact-finding body will take place after Eidul Azha.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is also holding an internal inquiry to identify the defectors.

Senator Rana Maqbool of the PML-N said his fact-finding report would take a bit longer to prepare because of the upcoming Eid holidays. "The report is likely to be completed in a week or two after Eid. I am hopeful that it will be completed this month," he added.

Separately, PML-N leaders held a meeting with PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

PPP, PML-N to probe senate vote switch

Responding to a reporter's query after the meeting, PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq said his party only spoke about matters related to the parliament's joint session with Zardari and the issue of the Senate no-trust motion did not come under discussion.

Sadiq added PML-N leader Khawaja Asif's recent remarks about the PPP were also not discussed.

Despite having a majority in the Senate, the joint opposition failed to unseat the chairman of the house, Sadiq Sanjrani, bagging only 50 votes — three short of the required number – in their no-confidence motion.

According to the results of the secret ballot, 50 senators cast their votes in favour of the motion, 45 against it and five votes were rejected — a major blow to the joint opposition, which was expecting to sail through believing that at least 63 senators were firmly under their belt.

Interestingly, the opposition's resolution, tabled earlier, to move the no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman was passed with 64 senators voting in its favour.

The PML-N and PPP are increasingly growing suspicious of each other following the joint opposition's failure to unseat the Senate chairman.

The cracks laid bare when senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif, during a recent interview on the Express News show 'To The Point With Mansoor Ali Khan', doubted the possibility of his party's alliance with the PPP lasting for long.

"You will soon see fissures in the alliance. Mistrust between the two parties [PML-N and PPP] is growing and I think it will further increase in the coming days," he maintained.

The PML-N leader also hinted that the PPP had betrayed the other opposition parties in the no-trust motion. "They [PPP] don't want to lose the Sindh government. We have nothing to lose."

'PML-N and PPP’s newfound camaraderie almost over'

Asif also described the PPP senators' move to submit their resignations to the party chairman as a "political gimmick".

"To be honest, this is nothing. I will believe it when they actually step down as senators," he added.

In response, PPP's Senator Sherry Rehman expressed her disappointment and said Asif's comments were tantamount to "smashing the opposition alliance into pieces".

She sought an explanation from the PML-N over its senior leader's remarks.

"The PPP too has its reservations [over the policies of other opposition parties] but never expressed them openly to keep the alliance intact," she claimed.

In a statement, PPP Information Secretary Nafeesa Shah asked PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz to take notice of Asif's statement.

"The PPP entered into an alliance with the PML-N for the sake of democracy even though its activists were unhappy about it," she said.

"The PML-N itself has been unable to keep its senators in check."