Seems like a déjà vu. A little more than 20 months back – on August 1, 2019 to be exact – Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had defeated a no-confidence motion tabled by the ‘joint’ opposition which had 66 members in the 104-strong Upper House. Supported by just 36 members belonging to the government and its allies, Sanjrani did not have even a snowman’s chance in hell to survive. But he did pull off a shock victory as the opposition failed to muster 53 votes required to de-seat him, despite having a clear majority in the House. Sanjrani secured 50 votes, meaning 14 of the opposition members did not vote in favour of the no-confidence motion even though a total of 66 members had voiced support for the motion in a show of hands before it was tabled.
Yesterday, the history repeated itself when members of the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies voted to elect 37 Senators. The focus of all attention though was the contest on a general seat from Islamabad for which MNAs constitute the electoral college. The candidates were incumbent Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh and former prime minister Yousaf Rana Gillani – from the government and the opposition, respectively. As against the government support of 180 members, the opposition enjoyed support from 160 members out of the 340 present in the National Assembly at the time of voting. But the outcome of the vote was no less than a rabbit emerging from the proverbial hat. Gillani bagged 169 votes as against Shaikh’s 164 while seven votes stood cancelled. By the way, the Asif Ali Zardari factor was pivotal, though intriguingly, in both results.
With the shock defeat looms the question: Is it a sign of no-confidence in the government? Does it warrant a fresh vote of confidence to be taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan from the lower house of parliament? Well, opposition leaders have already started calling upon the Prime Minister to tender his resignation and go. They see Gillani’s success as a first step towards sending Imran Khan packing. The government, on the other hand, insists that the Election Commission of Pakistan has failed to ensure transparent elections as directed by the Supreme Court when issuing its opinion on the presidential reference that sought the court’s advice on the mode of voting in the Senate elections.
Indeed, there is a question mark, from a moral point of view, on Gillani’s victory – especially in view of a video that went viral on social media a day before the Senate vote, showing one of Gillani’s sons teaching a few MNAs on how to get their votes rejected. This, coupled with a similar audio, purportedly of Sindh minister Nasir Hussain Shah, makes Gillani’s victory questionable. That said, the candidature of Shaikh – thought of as a paratrooper in the ruling party – has also to do with this stunning defeat. The fact that the PTI candidate on a woman-reserved seat from Islamabad, Fauzia Arshad, bagged 174 votes – 10 more than Shaikh – lends credence to the claim.
The government is understood not to take the defeat lying down. It has already decided to challenge the results in the election commission. While the mentioned audio and video make for good evidence prima facie, it will not be easy for the government to prove corrupt practices behind Gillani’s victory. The government may also invoke the number of rejected votes (seven) being higher than the victory margin (five), as tweeted by Shahbaz Gill, one of the PM’s special assistants.
Other results, meanwhile, ensured a hung Senate, with PTI being the leading party with 25 seats, followed by PPP with 21 seats, PML-N 18 and BAP 13. Of 24 other seats, 6 belong to Independent members, 5 to JUI-F, 3 to MQM-P, 2 each to ANP, PKMAP and NP while 1 each to PML-Q, PML-F 1, JI and BNP. The new composition denies the PTI and its allies a simple majority in the House even if the 6 Independent members join forces with them.
And in a bold move, announced late in the evening, the Prime Minister has announced taking a vote of no-confidence from the National Assembly. The PM must be appreciated for obeying democratic principles.
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