MPs not barred from voting against party Senate nominees

ISLAMABAD: Any lawmaker voting against his party nominees in the March 5 Senate election will not be hit by the defection clause and will not thus incur unseating.
“There is no constitutional or legal bar on any legislator to cast his vote against his party candidates in the Senate election,” eminent constitutional expert and former Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad told The News when contacted to seek his opinion.However, he said the concerned party will be at liberty to take disciplinary action against such lawmaker but his act of voting will not render him disqualified. Wasim Sajjad said that under the law there would be secret ballot for the Senate election in which it can’t be ascertained as to which legislator voted whom. But even if this fact is somehow known, the lawmaker, who has done so, can’t be declared ineligible.
He referred to Article 63A of the Constitution, which clearly spells out seven grounds for committing floor crossing, leading to ouster from the legislature. No lawmaker can be disqualified for any other reason, he said.
A federal or provincial lawmaker invites unseating if he resigns his party; joins another; votes or abstains against the direction of his party in election of the prime minister or the chief minister, on a motion of confidence or a vote of no-confidence against them, on a Money Bill or a Constitution (Amendment) Bill.
Article 63A says if a member of a parliamentary party composed of a single political party in the National Assembly, the Senate or a provincial assembly resigns from membership of his political party or joins another parliamentary party; or votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the party to which he belongs, in relation to election of the prime minister or the chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a Money Bill or a constitutional amendment bill, he may be declared in writing by the party head to have defected from the political party, and the he may forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer (Speaker or Chairman) and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) will similarly forward a copy to the member concerned provided that before making the declaration, the party head will provide such lawmaker with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him.
The party head means any person by whatever name called declared as such by the parliamentary party.
A legislator will be deemed to be a member of a parliamentary party if he, having been elected as a candidate or nominee of a political party which constitutes the parliamentary party in the House or, having been elected otherwise than as a candidate or nominee of a political party, has become a member of such parliamentary party after such election by means of a declaration in writing.
Upon receipt of the declaration, the Presiding Officer will within two days refer, and in case he fails to do so it will be deemed that he has referred, the declaration to the CEC who will lay the declaration before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for its decision thereon confirming the declaration or otherwise within thirty days of its receipt by the CEC.
Where the ECP confirms the declaration, the concerned member will cease to be a lawmaker and his seat will become vacant. Any party aggrieved by the ECP decision may, within thirty days, prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court which will decide the matter within ninety days from the date of the filing of the appeal.
The nonexistence of any constitutional or legal restriction to vote against the direction of their political parties in the Senate election may encourage some lawmakers to actually oppose their nominated candidates.
Indications are that some lawmakers in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies may not strictly follow the directions of their political parties in the Senate poll for some other considerations.
The lawmakers, who returned as independents in the 2013 general elections but subsequently joined political parties for their own reasons, are also covered by the defection clause. Once they are associated with the parties, they can’t regain their independent status as they are governed by their discipline.