The Senate battle

The differences between the opposition and the government appear to be deepening. Maryam Nawaz who has apparently received resignations from Lahore MNAs and MPAs during her visit to the city on Thursday, has said it will not be possible for the government to hold an election in a situation where 500 PDM members resign from the national and provincial assemblies. This is going to be an issue that comes up only if the resignations do go through. Members of the government maintain this will never happen as the 'wiser' leaders within the coalition who head their parties know that it is not feasible to quit the system at this point.

The other issue that has brought about considerable debate is the question of an open vote or a show of hands in the Senate. Many a Senate election, under a secret casting of ballot, has created dispute and uncertainty within the country. The most recent example came during the election of Sadiq Sanjrani as chairman of the Senate, despite the fact that the opposition held a majority in the House. Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that in the future, his party would go to the Supreme Court and put in place a method which allows ballots to be cast by a show of hands. The attorney general of Pakistan has corrected this by saying that the show of hands will obviously not be feasible, given that each member needs to cast at least 11 ballots, but an open ballot, which would be made public to the political agent may be a possibility, which the PTI would like to put on the books and use as the methodology for Senate elections. Members of the opposition insist that this is a constitutional matter and that at any rate a bill to this effect needs to first proceed through parliament and then go to the Supreme Court, if necessary. This was the path taken in India when a similar dispute arose there. The Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament in India, was not ignored through the process.

The PTI has said that the bill was placed before the National Assembly but the lack of working relationship between the opposition and the government made it impossible to enter into any dialogue on the matter and to move forward with the bill. The PPP and the PML-N in the past have both supported a more open election and a show of hands, with Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto agreeing in the past that this is necessary. We have had too much horse-trading and too many allegations of money changing hands. This has to stop. But it must be achieved legally without any violation of the constitution and it must go through parliament rather than be decided outside the House, which makes decisions on behalf of the people it represents.