Ag APP
ISLAMABAD: In a major victory for the government, both of the candidates it was supporting for the Senate’s top two slots won the chairmanship and deputy chairmanship despite an opposition majority in the Upper House.
After 48 senators were sworn in by Presiding Officer, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional’s Senator Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, the day’s dramatic events unfolded after members of the opposition allegedly found hidden cameras, some clandestinely placed in the voting booth, while some pointed at the booth.
The government and opposition swiftly blamed each other for the cameras, while Shah announced the formation of a six-member committee to investigate the issue. He said senators Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the PPP, Mussadik Malik of the PML-N and Azam Khan Swati of the PTI approached the secretary with separate written requests to hold a thorough investigation into the incident.
Shah asked the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate to give three names each for the committee members in due time. Later, when voting for the Senate Chairman began, Sadiq Sanjrani ended up winning the election after seven votes in favour of PDM’s joint candidate Yousuf Raza Gillani were rejected for being stamped on his name. Eight votes in total were rejected on technical grounds. Shah pronounced Sanjrani as the victor with 48 votes, out of the 98 polled. Gillani secured 42 votes.
Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami abstained from the voting process, while the notification of PML-N’s Ishaq Dar was suspended by the ECP due to his prolonged absence. As the presiding officer made the announcement, the supporters of winning candidate started thumping the desks in jubilation.
Sanjrani was promptly sworn in as Senate Chairman by the presiding officer, after which he thanked the lawmakers, the Prime Minister and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan for “putting their confidence in him”. He then took over the presiding duties and began the process to elect his deputy.
After voting concluded, government-supported candidate Mirza Muhammad Afridi was declared successful, securing 54 votes out of 98 votes. On completion of the vote-count, Sanjrani declared Mirza Muhammad Afridi successful. Joint opposition candidate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri secured 44 votes. No vote was rejected this time.
Outside, information minister Shibli Faraz and Senator Faisal Javed held a press conference, where Faraz said the PDM “has been buried today”. He also said the events of the day were payment in kind for the “theft of our National Assembly votes”.
Javed said Sadiq Sanjrani’s re-election as Senate Chairman is the “victory of truth and defeat of the corrupt politicians”. “Pakistan has won, Prime Minister Imran Khan has won, the public has won and corruption has been defeated,” he said.
The opposition, meanwhile, announced that they would challenge the rejections of the votes in an election tribunal, while a separate press conference held by PDM leaders PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, PPP Ahsan Iqbal and Qamar Zaman Kaira outside Parliament House termed the loss a “theft of democracy”.