Voting on 26th Amendment: Of total 85 senators, 13 remained absent, 2 on leave

ISLAMABAD: While it was claimed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan that Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy and Faisal Saleem will vote for the constitutional amendment, both were absent and one MNA Zain Qureshi had gone into hiding on his father’s advice.

According to the Senate Secretariat record of the eventful sitting held on Sunday, both these senators were among 13 members of the Senate, who remained absent from the House, which saw the adoption of 26th constitutional amendment.

In all, out of 85 legislators, a total of 70 senators were present during the proceedings on Oct 20, whereas two were on leave, including Leader of Opposition Shibli Faraz and Liaquat Tarakai from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The amendment was adopted by a two-thirds majority i.e. 65-4. Chairman Senate Yusuf Raza Gilani, who conducted the proceedings, did not cast his vote. Likewise, 11 seats of senators from KP continue to remain vacant for want of elections. From Punjab, out of total 23 members, as per the Senate record, three were absent, namely Ijaz Chaudhry, Saifullah Nyazee and Dr Zarqa, who belong to the PTI.

From Balochistan, all 23 senators were present and took part in voting on the amendment and one member Muhammad Qasim also came to the House on a wheelchair, who belongs to the BNP-Mengal.

Of total 12 members, who represent KP in the Senate, only Haji Hidayatullah of Awami National Party and JUIF’s Maulana Attaur Rehman were present in the House, while the rest were away, including Shibli Faraz and Liaquat Tarakai (on leave) and seven were absent.

From Sindh, only PTI’s Saifullah Abro was missing from the House, while the rest were part of the polling, comprising 22 members. Separately, senior PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son MNA Zain Qureshi released a video statement to put at rest speculations about his fate and whereabouts. He clarified that he went into hiding on the direction of his father, who called him to Lahore and said that the constitutional amendment should not be approved under any circumstances.

He regretted that misleading propaganda was being done against him regarding the support of the constitutional amendment. “If my meeting with any government official is proved, I will leave politics. I will stand with the party policy and founder PTI,” he expressed his resolve. It should be noted that Zain Qureshi had been missing for a few days, and his sister Meher Bano Qureshi did not contact Zain Qureshi and there was a fear of his kidnapping.