ISLAMABAD: Claiming victory in the Senate chairman elections, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Friday said the election was stolen, and announced to challenge rejection of seven votes of the PDM candidate Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in the court. On the other hand, the government said the opposition is shedding tears as its politics are buried.
The PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, said the Senate chairman’s election “has been stolen right in front of the eyes of the people”. Addressing a press conference, Bilawal claimed that the PDM — the opposition parties’ anti-government coalition — has defeated the (PTI) government in the National Assembly and the Senate. “Their bias and their biased, illegal decision is right in front of you. Seven votes for the chairman of the Senate of Pakistan were cast in favour of Yusuf Raza Gilani,” he said. “Those votes were cast properly, legally, constitutionally, but seven senators of the Senate of Pakistan were purposefully disenfranchised and Gilani Sahab, despite winning, has still not sat on that seat in the Senate,” he said, adding, “A vote is ‘cast’ when the intention of the voter becomes clear. Seven votes were invalidly rejected (but) if these seven votes are added, then Yusuf Raza Gilani has won. Gilani has become the chairman of the Senate.”
Bilawal said those seven votes were in line with the Supreme Court precedents. Noting that the PDM “exposed the system and defeated” the PTI, Bilawal announced that the anti-government alliance had decided to go to the court after consultations with PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and other opposition leaders.
When asked if the PPP still believed in the establishment’s neutrality, he said our struggle is for every institution to be neutral and work within its own domain. “If you ask me now whether every institution is working in its own domain, the answer is no. Our struggle is for this to change, and that the decisions of the country are only made in the parliament,” he said. Bilawal said even the presiding officer was taken from the government party.
While talking to the media persons along with Ahsan Iqbal of PML-N, former prime minister Raja Parvaiz Ashraf said that the opposition rejects the result of the Senate chairman elections as it is big joke with democracy. He said that despite having won most votes than his rival, the PDM candidate was not declared the winner, saying that the presiding officer rejected seven votes of Yusuf Raza Gilani to defeat him.
“We will move the court against decision of the presiding officer and Yusuf Raza Gilani of PDM will become the Senate chairman,” he said. Ashraf claimed that the PDM candidate had won the Senate elections by 49 to 48 votes, questioning in which capacity Sadiq Sanjrani was sitting on the seat of chairman. “Sadiq Sanjrani is occupying seat of the Senate chairman despite having minority in the House,” he said. The PPP leader also pointed out that in written instructions, the voters were instructed to stamp box containing name of the candidate. “Our seven voters whose ballot papers were rejected stamped on name of the PDM candidate,” he said.
Ahsan Iqbal also claimed that the PDM candidate received 49 votes and none of opposition voters sold their vote in the Senate chairman’s elections. “Today 49 voters have proved that they neither succumbed to any pressure nor they sold out their votes,” he said, adding that they reserved the right of legal fight against the presiding officer’s decision. He said the way Senate chairman elections were conducted has made the country the laughing stock in the world and this should also be a matter of concern for the nation. Ahsan Iqbal further said that the Supreme Court in its observation in 2004 had also declared that such ballot papers should not be considered as rejected. “We will move the court and hopefully the victory will be ours,” he said.
To a question, the PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the opposition would not allow the government to snatch the Senate chairman elections. “Who says that our voters sold out their votes? They polled in favour of the PDM candidate,” he said.
Hina Pervaiz Butt said the true face of the dark forces was revealed in today’s polls. She said PDM will continue its struggle against this “selected” government. The President, PML-N Punjab, Rana Sanaullah said the PDM will follow its schedule. He said the election of chairman Senate was held in a hostile environment.
Meanwhile, reacting to the opposition’s allegations regarding the installation of hidden cameras inside polling booths for elections for Senate chairman and deputy chairman, the PTI alleged that the cameras were deployed by the opposition leaders themselves only “to stage a drama” later on.
Shibli Faraz addressed a press conference flanked by PTI senator Faisal Javed in Islamabad to speak on the matter. He noted that the opposition has given an impression that the cameras were deployed by the government. “We will make sure that this incident is thoroughly investigated. We all know who was employed inside the building during their (the PPP’s) tenure. We will expose the agents and proxies of PPP and PML-N,” he said. “They are the ones who talk about tactics to waste votes. Our main objective is transparency and that is what PM Imran Khan has been struggling for so long,” the minister added.
The minister said: “These are the people who won the election in the National Assembly despite being in a minority. They are struggling to hide their corruption.” He went on to add that such incidents will reoccur until and unless the concept of open balloting is not introduced and transparency is ensured in elections. To a question he said the opposition’s claim of having a majority in Senate was incorrect as there were certain members who were independent, not part of the PML-N as claimed by the PDM.
Faisal Javed said the government had offered open balloting but opposition leaders declined the suggestion. “We challenge them on open balloting but they are not ready for it. All they want is an NRO (amnesty deal) from Imran Khan.” Referring to PML-N Senator Dr Musadik Malik and PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz as “James Bond 007”, the PTI leader claimed that everything was pre-planned by the opposition. “They are the ones yearning for secret ballot, (devious) tactics and conspiracies,” he added.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill claimed that PML-N Senator Dr Musadik Malik had voted against the PDM’s candidates during Senate elections after he was not nominated for the deputy chairman slot. Uploading his statement on the Twitter, Shahbaz Gill said that he had learned from a media friend that Musadik Malik wanted to become the deputy chairman of Senate. “After being denied the position, he purportedly voted for both candidates (on a single ballot paper) after being angry, which led to the cancellation of his vote,” he said.
