The recent gain of the ruling PPP in Senate elections may not create any extra ordinary hurdles towards a government in the centre formed by any other party after the general elections in 2013, as far as legislation is concerned, as the lower house of parliament can pass a bill if rejected by Upper House of Parliament through a joint session of both the houses.
The PPP has emerged as a majority party with 41 seats in the 104-member House. Though, PPP alone has not simple majority in the Upper House but the ruling coalition has overwhelming majority in the Senate. At least 53 votes are necessary for ordinary legislation in Senate. After the passage of the 18th constitutional amendment, the Senate cannot block any legislation referred to it by the National Assembly.
The clause 3 of the Article 70 of the Constitution inserted under 18th amendment says, "If a bill transmitted to a House (either Senate or NA) under clause (1) is rejected or is not passed within 90 days of its laying in the House or a Bill sent to a House under clause (2) with amendments is not passed by that House with such amendments, the Bill, at the request of the House in which it originated, shall be considered in a joint sitting and it passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting it shall be presented to the president for assent."
In such case, the PPP with its majority in the Senate would not be able to create extra ordinary hurdles for any other party's government. In the case of money bill, the clause (1A) of Article 73 says "the National Assembly shall, consider the recommendations of the Senate and after the Bill has been passed by the Assembly with or without incorporating the recommendations, it shall be presented to the President for assent".
According some political analysts, the loyalty of PPP's major coalition partners like Awami National Party (ANP), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), can not be taken for granted as they can turn tables on it anytime. If the party loses the next general elections due in 2013, they added, the majority seats of PPP without coalition's parties' support do not ensure that it has an upper hand in the Senate.
They said that it all depends on next general elections in 2013 that how many seats the PPP will be able to win. If the party wins majority seats, they said, then its position in the parliament will be much strong. They said that if some other party wins majority seats, parties like MQM, ANP and the JUI-F, will certainly go for an alliance with that party, which will be in a position to form a government. They said that under prevalent circumstances, the PPP is not in a position to win majority votes. Secondly, the sudden rise of Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a potential threat to both PPP and PML-N, at least in urban areas, they opined.
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