PML-N, PPP in a battle for Senate chairman slot: Sethi

Senior analyst Najam Sethi on Saturday said Prime Minister Nawaz was trying his best to introduce a constitutional amendment before the Senate polls to stop horse-trading.
He said around half of the incumbent senators were retiring which would damage the PPP. Although the PPP’s majority in the Upper House of the Parliament would considerably shrink, it would still be in a position to get the party’s candidate elected as Senate chairman, he added.
On the other hand, he said, the prime minister did not want to see the Senate being led by the PPP and was aiming at controlling both the houses. Therefore, a fight was under way for every single vote to capture the Senate chairman’s seat, Sethi said in Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’.
He said Nadeem Afzal Chan was trying to get elected from Punjab on the PPP ticket. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif feared that the PPP might get a seat from the province through horse-trading, he added.
Sethi said the PPP did not have the much seats in the Punjab Assembly but could manage the required numbers courtesy the PML-Q and the independents.
According to Sethi, it is Imran Khan who is most afraid of horse-trading and, therefore, he is now talking about the principles. He is scared of the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which provides plenty of turncoats. The basic drawback off the managing a party through turncoats is that a turncoat can also switch his loyalties to any other just like he did for present party.
He said both Nawaz and Imran had decided to opt to open balloting instead of secret and hence the two enemies were on the same page in that case, while the PPP had taken a principled stance.
He said the basic criticism of the proposed move was based on the argument that “election is always held through secret balloting. If elections are held through openly by show of hands then it will be selection, not election.” And if selection was the desired objective then there was no need of voting, he added.
Sethi said horse-trading was common in India as well. There had been some legislation in Pakistan to discourage the practice, but it was not the case in India, he said, adding that the formula for the Upper House of the Parliament’s polls was the same.