ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties will abstain from voting on the no-confidence motion moved by the ruling coalition against Deputy Senate Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla for the reason that onus is on the governing alliance to produce support of 53 Senators for its success.
Under Rule 12 of the Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business in the Senate, the deputy chairman will stand removed from his office on the no-trust resolution being passed by a majority of the total membership of the Senate, prominent constitutional expert Barrister Omar Sajjad told The News.
“We are of the view that the motion against Mandviwalla will naturally fail when its movers will not be able to present the majority of the Senators in its favour,” a prominent opposition Senator told this correspondent on condition of anonymity.
He said that there is no point in being part of the voting by the opposition Senators on the move against Mandviwalla. However, he said they will have to be present in the voting on the no-trust motion against Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.
Omar Sajjad said it was the opposition’s responsibility to have the majority vote in support of its no-confidence resolution against Sanjrani otherwise its move will stand frustrated. On the other hand, he said, the ruling side will be required to show majority to defeat this move.
He said that the voting on the no-trust resolution against Sanjrani will have to be held on Aug 1 (today), when the Upper House of Parliament meets, or the following day.
“The seven-day notice period for this resolution has already expired because it was moved on July 11,” he explained citing rules.
The lawyer said referring to Rule 12 that the Upper House will not be adjourned until the motion for leave to move the resolution is disposed of or, if leave is granted, the resolution has been voted upon. Voting will be by secret ballot which will be held in such manner as the Presiding Officer (PO), Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif in this case as he has been appointed as such, may direct.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati has stated that there would not be voting on the motion against Sanjrani on Aug 1 as seven more days will be required before it, triggering a speculation about a showdown between the government and opposition on technical grounds. Omar Sajjad said the resolution against Sanjrani has met the requirements needed under Rule 12. For example, not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the Senate has given to the Senate secretary notice in writing of the motion for leave to move the resolution under Article 61 read with paragraph (c) of clause (7) of Article 53 of the Constitution for his removal. The Secretary has circulated the notice among the Senators.
On Aug 1, the motion for leave to move the resolution will have to be entered in the names of the members concerned in the Orders of the Day for the first working day after the already expired seven days from the date of its receipt. Omar Sajjad said that no other item will have to be included in the Orders of the Day for the day fixed for a motion for leave (Aug 1) to move the resolution.
Sanjrani will not preside over the Senate sitting in which the resolution for his removal has been fixed for consideration. So will do Mandviwalla.
As PO, Barrister Saif will call upon the first available member on the list of movers to move the motion on his behalf and on behalf of its other sponsors. Immediately after its moving, the PO will call such of the members as may be in favour of the leave being granted to rise in their seats and, if at least one-fourth of the total membership of the Senate does not so rise, he will declare that the member has not the leave of the Senate or, if such membership so rises, call upon the member concerned to move the resolution. Exceptwith the PO’s permission, a Senator will not speak on the resolution for more than 15 minutes. However, its mover and the chairman or, as the case may be, the deputy chairman, against whom it has been moved, may speak for 30 minutes or such longer time as the PO may permit.
The chairman will stand removed from his office on the resolution being passed by a majority of the total membership of the Senate.
The incumbent chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate are the first-ever top office-holders of the Upper House of Parliament, who are facing no-confidence motions 17 months after their election.
Record shows that such resolutions were never moved against anyone of the seven previous chairmen and anyone of the 11 earlier deputy chairmen since 1973 when the Senate of Pakistan was created in the wake of the framing of the new Constitution of Pakistan.
It is evident from the tenure of all these constitutional office-holders that they always had a smoothing sailing for the mere fact that they belonged to the majority party of the Senate.
The slot of the chairman is considered important as he automatically becomes the acting president in the absence of the president from Pakistan for any reason or his inability to perform his functions.
Unlike the Senate, only one National Assembly Speaker (Syed Fakhar Imam) was ousted a year after his election in March 1985 through a no-confidence in the 80s. His victory had come out as a major upset because he had defeated President General Ziaul Haq’s nominee Khawaja Safdar, father of senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja M Asif.
In the tight contest, Fakhar Iman had clinched 119 votes while Khawaja Safdar had got 111 ballots. However, in the voting on the no-trust resolution against him, Fakhar Iman had managed to bag just 72 votes while 152 ballots were cast against him. In his place, Hamid Nasir Chattha had been elected speaker with the support of 176 votes.
Sadiq Sanjrani and Saleem Mandviwalla landed in the Senate for the first time in 2018 and 2015,respectively,and were elected chairman and deputy chairman in March 2018.
At the time, Sanjrani was supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Quami Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), and Senators from Balochistan and tribal areas. He had bagged 57 votes against 46 ballots of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Raja Zafarul Haq, who was backed by the National Party (NP), Pashtunkhwa Awami Party (PkMAP), Jamaat-e-Islami, PML-Functional and Awami National Party (ANP).
Mandviwalla, who was in the Sanjrani’s panel, had secured 54 votes against 44 ballots of PkMAP leader Usman Kakar who was in Zafarul Haq’s panel. The MQM-P had not voted for Mandviwalla.
There has been fresh realignment of parliamentary parties in the changed political scenario. Now, the Jamaat-e-Islami is not supporting the opposition’s no-trust motion against Sanjrani, and has announced neutrality.
The new divide is clear. Sanjrani is being backed by the PTI, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), MQM-P, tribal Senators, PML-N Functional and some independents. On the other hand, the no-confidence motion against Sanjrani is being supported by the PML-N, PPP, PkMAP, NP, Jamiate Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and ANP.
As per the prevailing numerical strength of the two sides, the opposition parties have a clear edge over their rival unless something unusual takes place, upsetting the present position. The ruling coalition has repeatedly emphasized that the opposition Senators should vote according to their conscience rather than pursuing the party line.
When the Senate was created, Habibullah Khan was elected its chairman on Aug 6, 1973,to serve a three-year term. He was reelected in August 1975 but his tenure was terminated by the imposition of martial on July 4, 1977 as the Senate was also dissolved along with the National Assembly.
For the next eight years, both the parliamentary chambers remained non-existent. After the 1985 non-party general elections, the Senate came into being once again. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was elected its chairman till March 1988. On the expiry of his term, he was re-elected, but after the death of the then president, General Ziaul Haq, in a plane crash in August 1988, Ghulam Ishaq became acting president to be later elected as the full-fledged head of state.
After that Wasim Sajjad became the chairman of the Senate in December 1988. He was the longest serving Senate head as he was voted as the chairman for four times, which itself has been a record. His term ended with the imposition of martial law by General Pervez Musharraf on October 12, 1999.
After the revival of the Senate with a gap of four years, Muhammadmian Soomro got two terms from March 2003 to 2009 as the Senate chairman.
In March 2012, Farooq H Naek of the PPP was elected the Senate head and was replaced by Nayyar Bukhari to continue till March 2015. Then, Raza Rabbani came in. Finally Sanjrani was elected the Senate chief.
The previous deputy chairman included Abdul Malik Baloch, Sajjad Hussain Qureshi (father of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi), Malik Muhammad Ali Khan, Fazal Agha, Noor Jehan Panezai, Mir Abdul Jabbar Khan, Mir Hamayun Marri, Khalilur Rehman, Jan Jamali, Sabir Baloch and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.