close
Friday March 29, 2024

No-confidence motion: President to nominate senator to chair Senate session

By Noor Aftab
July 14, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Secretariat would have to send a letter to the President, Arif Alvi, to nominate any senator to chair the Senate session as Senate chairman and deputy chairman could not do it as both of them would face no-confidence motion against them, sources told The News here on Saturday.

According to the rules, if the Senate chairman or the deputy chairman faces no-confidence motion then he/she cannot chair the session, so in this way Sadiq Sanjrani and Salim Mandviwalla both cannot chair the session in which the members would cast their votes through a secret ballot in no-confidence motions against them.

At the first instance when the opposition parties submitted no-confidence resolution against Sadiq Sanjrani, Senate Deputy Chairman Salim Mandviwalla did not sign it because he thought that he would chair the Senate session.

The sources said now Salim Mandviwalla is also facing no-confidence motion, so rules are apparently silent about this kind of situation.

The interaction with some veteran parliamentarians revealed to The News that the rules are silent and there is no such precedent in the past due to which the Senate Secretariat would have no option except to approach the President who can nominate any senator to chair the session.

The sources said it is also yet not clear that when the President would nominate a senator to chair the session then he or she would be able to cast vote in favor or against the no-confidence motions.

The Senate session is summoned within 14 days after submission of the no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman or the deputy chairman. The members from both the treasury and the opposition benches speak on the floor of the House regarding no-confidence motion.

The opposition parties have fielded their joint candidate Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo for the post of the Senate chairman. But the federal government has categorically stated that it would help defeat the no-confidence motion against Sadiq Sanjrani in coordination with its allied parties.

As far as the ‘number game’ is concerned, the opposition parties have clear-cut majority to pass the no-confidence motion. It is due to this the political pundits maintain that the ruling alliance also needs support from the Senators belonging to the opposition parties to help protect Sadiq Sanjrani in the face of the no-confidence motion against him. Currently, the opposition alliance comprises the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 30 senators, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with 20 MPs, National Party of Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo with five members, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) with four senators, Pakhtuoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) of Mehmood Khan Achakzai with two legislators and Awami National Party (ANP) of Asfandyar Wali with one MP. This correspondent approached the Senate Secretariat to obtain official version, but no one was available to officially speak on this issue.