No-confidence motion defeated: 14 Opposite senators help Sanjrani stay on as chairman

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani Thursday narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, just by three votes, in what comes as major setback to the joint opposition that had moved the motion, the one-and-only in Pakistan's legislative history. Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla also survived comfortably though the no-confidence motion was moved against him by the treasury benches.
All eyes were on the Upper House of the Parliament which had met to consider the no-confidence motion against the chairman and deputy chairman. Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) presided over the session. In dramatic turn of events, the joint opposition that had 64 votes in favour of the no-confidence resolution, ended up with only 50 votes at the voting stage in favour of opposition's joint candidate Hasil Bizenjo from the National Party. This implied that 14 voters from the opposition had possibly defected in favour of Sanjrani. In 104-member Senate that presently has 103 members (Ishaq Dar has not taken oath as a senator,) the opposition needed 53 votes to prove majority against Sanjrani. A total number of 100 votes were cast, of which 50 votes went against Sanjrani, 45 in his favour and five votes were rejected. Two Jamaat-e-Islami senators Sirajul Haq and Mushtaq Ahmad abstained from voting and did not attend the session.
Chaudhry Tanvir from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is presently abroad as he also did not show up at the session. The voting result indicates that even if all the five rejected votes belonged to opposition, still at least nine opposition senators had possibly voted for Sanjrani.
Interestingly, Sanjrani was one of the two senators whose votes were cancelled and issued fresh ballot papers. He had mistakenly voted in favour of Hasil Bizenjo and had immediately realised his mistake. On his request, Sanjrani was issued another ballot paper by the Senate's polling staff.
The already risen temperature in the Upper House further escalated when the opposition senators Asif Kirmani and Sabir Shah exchanged heated words with Presiding Officer Barrister Saif. The PML-N senators sought permission from the presiding officer to allow PML-N's Ayesha Raza Farooq to help Najma Hameed walk to the polling booth to vote, on account of her poor health condition. Saif had refused to allow any senator to accompany Najma to the polling booth and directed a female staff member of the Senate to assist Najma. "I can't allow a senator to accompany another senator to vote. This is against the rules. This is tantamount to influencing the vote," Saif remarked.
Najma Hameed had mistakenly cast vote in Sanjrani's favour and requested the Senate polling staff to cancel her vote and issue her a fresh ballot paper. While she came to the polling desk to collect new ballot paper, Ayesha Raza whispered in her ear presumably to vote for Bizenjo, which infuriated Barrister Saif, the presiding officer. "Ayesha, you are influencing her vote. You told her to vote for a particular candidate. This is totally against the rules and just unacceptable. This action of yours warrants a strong action from my side," he said.
When Kirmani tried to support his party colleague, he received a snub from the presiding officer. "Don't teach me the rules. I am the one who is here to implement the rules and ensure the sanctity of the house business. I cannot allow any violation of the house business go unchecked. No need to create a drama. Please!" Saif shouted. On his instructions, fresh ballot paper was issued to Najma and a female Senate staff member helped her cast her vote.
Compared to Sanjrani, the no-confidence motion against Mandviwalla, the Deputy Chairman, was met with apparent lack of interest from senators. While the opposition abstained from voting, 32 senators voted against Mandviwalla whereas the no-confidence resolution against deputy chairman was supported by 34 members of treasury benches. This implies that two members from treasury benches had possibly defected in favour of Mandviwalla. One vote was rejected.
Earlier, prior to voting, when the presiding officer gave the floor to Leader of the Opposition in Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, he said, "Delivering speeches on the floor of the house ahead of voting is permissible under the rules. But it is not mandatory that we start making speeches against one another. We like to keep the atmosphere of the house peaceful." Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz hailed Haq's stance.
When the voting results of no-confidence motion against Sanjrani were announced, treasury benches greeted one another in jubilation and chanted slogans in favour of Sanjrani.
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri among other dignitaries had witnessed the proceedings of the Senate session from the Visitors' Gallery of the Senate.
Background discussions with senior leaders of PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) suggest that both parties are accusing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of applying 'coercive tactics as well as bribe' to foil the no-confidence motion against Sanjrani. "It is like the treasury benches followed a carrot and stick policy-bribe and intimidation have gone hand in hand. And it won't be surprising if some of our party colleagues are involved in defections. Otherwise, it is just not possible that a resolution that was supported by 64 senators, eventually ended up with only 50 votes," a PML-N leader, requesting not to be named, told a select group of reporters outside the Parliament House.