Sanjrani again, but …

The government has avenged the shock defeat of March 3 with stunning victories in the Senate yesterday. Both the candidates nominated by the government – Sadiq Sanjrani for chairman and Mirza Mohammed Afridi for deputy chairman – returned successful against their PDM rivals, Yousaf Raza Gillani and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. Sanjrani received one vote more than the known numerical strength of his supporters and Afridi bagged seven more – something that shows that secret ballot once again proved instrumental in the results.

Also instrumental in one of the two contests – Sanjrani versus Gillani – was the number of votes that stood rejected. Incidentally, seven of the total of eight rejected votes belonged to Gillani. Presiding officer Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, a seasoned politician, ruled them rejected as the stamp in each case was affixed on the name of the candidate rather than the clean space provided ahead. PDM leaders refused to accept the ruling and announced moving every forum in their bid to get the ruling reversed and the result withdrawn. So while Sanjrani has been declared Senate chairman for now, he is faced with a serious legal challenge.

On the rejected votes, however, there may be more than meets the eye. Should we read more into why all the rejected votes belonged to Gillani only? Well, there is a fair bit of margin to raise suspicion in the context. Affixing the stamp on the candidate’s name rather than the space ahead may have been a deliberate attempt to have the votes rejected. Besides, the 54 votes secured by Afridi – seven more than those of the government and its allies and three more than the opposition’s total known support – speaks of the government’s inroads into the opposition camp, in case of the Upper House.

The March 3 shock had clearly shaken the confidence of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the morale of his team. The Senate triumph of March 12 must have helped the government camp regain its poise to a good extent. But this breathing space will fade fast, and the government needs to understand that performance is the only true confidence booster. The challenges the government faces are mounting -- the Senate spy camera allegations are the latest addition.