Nifty, uninspiring moves to get top Senate slot

ISLAMABAD: Smart and not-so-smart moves have been undertaken by principal political players to be head and shoulders above their rivals in a bid to win the race for the office of the Senate chairman.

The first clever initiative was flung in all seriousness by PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif after consultations with his parliamentary allies when he put up the name of Mian Raza Rabbani saying if the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) sponsors him, they will extend support to him. He explained that the outgoing Upper House chief’s re-election will also eliminate the scourge of horse-trading that defiled the Senate polls in all the provinces.

The ex-premier was obviously impressed with Rabbani’s democratic credentials and commendable role as the Senate chairman for three years. But it was also a shrewd political move that was meant to snatch the initiative from PPP supremo Asif Ali Zardari, who was pushed in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. Had Zardari opted for Rabbani although he did not like him, the credit for his nomination would have gone to Nawaz Sharif. When he rejected it, he earned disapproval not only from different political circles but even from a number of leaders of his own party.

The PPP chief took no time in quickly trashing the proposal stating that he did not want Rabbani to be his party’s candidate. He has some other man in mind, whose election, in his reckoning, will send a positive message to the business community.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan came out with a novel idea and, as an Urdu saying goes, instead of straightforwardly catching ears preferred to do so by zigzagging. He had been shoved to stand with the PPP, having been left with no option, to block the PML-N but rather than doing it directly, he handed over his thirteen senators to Balochistan Chief Minister Abdus Qaddus Bizenjo to use their votes as he wills. He also said that he did so as he wants the next Senate chairman from Balochistan, that he did not wish to see the Upper House chief from the PML-N and that he can’t back the PPP representative.

But in reality, the PTI chief unconditionally tendered his support to the PPP by sugar-coating it because he did not wish to be looked backing the PPP publicly after his lethal haranguing for years against Zardari. At one point, he suggested that the PPP has to exclude Zardari to become a political party in the real sense.

The next initiative came from Bizenjo. Shortly after earning Imran Khan’s welcome help, he, accompanied by a set of Balochistan senators, had a huddle with Zardari and put his supporters at the PPP leader’s “disposal” in the chairman’s election.

Zardari did not pronounce his decision then and there before the chief minister and Balochistan senators. Rather, he told them that Chairman Bilawal will decide. So, the ball was thrown in Bilawal’s court to nominate the candidate of his party and its allies.

The disqualifications of Rabbani openly listed by Zardari for discarding him as his nominee are hardly inspiring. One was that Rabbani as the Senate chairman kept ignoring constitutional violations of Nawaz Sharif which is why they seem to enjoy good companionship.

However, it was none but Zardari himself who had made Rabbani head of the 26-member parliamentary committee that had held talks for months and drafted the 18th amendment, which was passed during the PPP rule. How had Rabbani as the Senate chairman stopped the government from “committing constitutional violations” while he had a limited role to play as the Upper House chief?

Another demerit of Rabbani cited by Zardari was that he did not bother to address his reservations over the 18th amendment, which is why he is a good friend of Nawaz Sharif. However, Rabbani has rebutted it saying that in his three-year tenure as the chairman he handed seventy-three rulings against the government. How could he have removed the PPP leader’s reservations?

If the present claims of the two camps about the support of senators they have won is kept in view, the total membership of the Upper House has gone up to at least 111 MPs instead of its actual strength of 104. Such bragging is not unusual on such occasions as it is meant to scare the other side. But it is not necessary that such claims are always real unless those claiming openly show the numbers.

The PPP stresses that it has garnered the support of 57 senators and the PML-N claims that it has managed the backing of 54 MPs. Their statements will be tested just three days later on March 12 when the election will be held.