In what comes as a tit-for-tat response, the senators from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allied parties on Friday submitted a no-confidence resolution against Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla, three days after the opposition submitted a no-confidence resolution against Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani.
The resolution, which was signed by the 11 senators from the PTI and its allied parties, was submitted at the office of Secretary Senate Muhammad Anwar by a group of treasury benches' senators led by Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz. The development comes just a day after the Rehbar Committee, an alliance of opposition parties except Jamaat-e-Islami(JI) had nominated National Party's (NP) Hasil Khan Bizenjo as opposition's joint candidate for chairman Senate (in case the no-confidence motion against Sanjrani proves successful).
According to sources close to Shibli Faraz, the decision to have a no-confidence resolution moved against Mandviwalla, who belongs to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan after meeting Sadiq Sanjrani, Shibli Faraz, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, on Thursday last.
Sources said that the PM assured Sanjrani of his full support to foil the opposition's no-confidence motion against him. During the meeting, the PM instructed Swati and Shibli to mobilise support in favour of Sanjrani, it is learnt.
Speaking to media earlier on Wednesday last, Shibli had said that the government was working on a strategy to foil the opposition's no-confidence motion. This strategy, he said, would 'surprise' the opposition. Shibli said the opposition needed 53 members in the 104-member Senate to vote out Sanjrani. "I think this is impossible. There are serious divisions in the opposition and it is impossible for them to secure the desired number of votes against Sanjrani," the leader of the house in Senate said. He claimed that the PTI government is against the horse-trading. But he did not disclose how the government plans to foil no-confidence motion.
Reacting to government's no-confidence motion against Deputy Chairman Senate, PPP's Parliamentary Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman said, "The government has moved this resolution to pacify itself. The government lacks numbers to remove the deputy chairman Senate from his office. This is just a pressure tactic to get the opposition withdrawn no-confidence resolution against chairman Senate but we would not let this happen. We would not be pressurised."
Sherry said the government would leave no stone unturned to make sure that no-confidence motion against the chairman Senate proves unsuccessful and he is not removed from office. "And we would make sure that no-confidence motion against deputy chairman Senate is foiled," she said.
A senator from treasury benches, who wished not to be named, said the government is considering to nominate its candidate for the position of deputy chairman Senate as part of the strategy to exert pressure on the opposition to refrain from moving ahead with the no-confidence motion against the chairman Senate. In this regard, the PM is expected to soon chair a meeting of lawmakers from PTI and allied parties to discuss names for the slot of deputy chairman Senate and to review strategy to foil no-confidence motion against chairman Senate.
Earlier on Tuesday last, for the first time ever in the legislative history of Pakistan, the opposition senators, except from JI submitted a no-confidence resolution for the removal of chairman Senate.
The opposition also moved a related requisition to convene the session of the Upper House of the Parliament for the introduction of no-confidence motion against Sanjrani.
According to Section 12 (10) of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Senate 2012, voting on the resolution (against chairman/deputy chairman) shall be by secret ballot which shall be held in such manner as the presiding officer may direct.
The Section 12 (12) of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Senate 2012 reads, "The Chairman or, as the case may be, Deputy Chairman shall stand removed from his office on the resolution being passed by a majority of the total membership of the Senate."
In addition, the constitutional provisions provide that the chairman Senate or the deputy chairman Senate shall not preside over a sitting of the Senate in which a resolution for his removal from office is fixed for consideration and the Senate shall not be prorogued until the no-confidence motion has been disposed of or the resolution has been voted upon.
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