PTI leaders narrate tale of opposition’s broken promises

Senate leader, SAPM say past ruling parties agreed to law change for transparent Senate election

ISLAMABAD:

Leader of the House in the Senate, Shehzad Waseem, charged the opposition with contradiction in its words and its actions and accused it of reneging on the promise of transparency in the election of the upper house of parliament.

Addressing a joint press conference with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Dr Shahbaz Gill, Waseem gave a timeline of the opposition’s statements and promises in the Senate, which, he said, it is not prepared to fulfil now.

The opposition parties had proposed in the Senate Committee of the Whole in 2016 that the Senate elections should be held through open ballot and that action must be taken against the members who indulged in horse trading.

“Now, the opposition is opposing it,” Waseem said. He reminded that former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto had signed the Charter of Democracy to ensure transparency in the Senate elections but this promise was also not fulfilled.

Waseem pointed out that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) joined ranks for the 18th Constitutional Amendment but no action was taken on the issue of ensuring transparency in the Senate election.

“Despite all the promises, long rule and [having] majority in parliament], the opposition did nothing to ensure transparency in the Senate elections,” he said, adding: “Because their intentions were not good.”

Giving the timeline, the leader of the house said that on August 7, 2015, the matter was debated in the upper house when Mian Raza Rabbani was the chairman, Raja Zafarul Haq was the leader of the house and Aitzaz Ahsan was the leader of the opposition.

The committee of the whole, he added, met on November 11, 2015 and May 12, 2016 and on May 20, 2016, it presented its “unanimous recommendations”, which said that transparency in Senate elections was not possible without electoral reform.

The committee also suggested that the names of the voters should be published on ballot papers and the vote should be identified, so that the parliamentary leader of any party could check that the voter did not vote for another candidate for financial gain,” Waseem said.

The same committee of the whole had also suggested that the candidate should be a resident of the province, from where he contested the election, for at least five years, he said. The committee also proposed change in the electoral college, he added.

Now, the leader of the house said, the opposition is trying to hide behind the Constitution. “They [the opposition] do not understand the spirit [of the Constitution],” Waseem said, adding: “The 1973 Constitution also mentions proportionate representation.”

He said that the Senate is the symbol of the Federation in which all the four provinces have representation. He added that implementation of the decisions taken in the parliament would promote democracy in the country.

Commenting on the reference sent to the Supreme Court by the government regarding the open balloting, Waseem noted that it was the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to interpret the Constitution. “The government went to the Supreme Court for its guidance.”

In the Supreme Court, he added, the National Assembly speaker, the Senate chairman and the speakers of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies have supported open balloting. In the past, he said, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expelled its 20 lawmakers on the basis of principles.

Waseem also charged the opposition with horse trading in the upcoming Senate election. In the press conference, he expressed sorrow over the demise of Senator Mushahidullah Khan, who passed away on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Shahbaz Gill said that Nawaz Sharif had called for transparency in the Senate elections during in 2015. In this regard, Gill added, the former prime minister had also formed two committees.

He said the bill for transparency in Senate election did not come overnight, rather it was the demand of the whole of Pakistan. “Article 24 of the Charter of Democracy also supported the open ballot,” he said, adding: “We are ready to legislate to ensure transparent elections.”

LIVE #APPNews : Leader of the House for Senate Dr. Shahzad Waseem along with SAPM for Political Communication Shahbaz Gill addressing press conference #Islamabad @dswpti @SHABAZGIL @SenatePakistan https://t.co/sZolGpY4yG

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