Opposition fails to unseat Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani survived on Thursday a no-confidence motion after the opposition fell just three votes short of victory.

The Senate session was summoned by President Arif Alvi, who has appointed Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Muhammad Ali Saif to act as presiding officer of the session. Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq presented the no-confidence resolution against the chairman.

The resolution stated 'whereas Senator Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has ceased to command confidence of majority of members of Senate as Chairman, House resolves and declares that Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has ceased to hold office of Chairman, Senate of Pakistan.'

About 100 senators, including the chairman took part in the polling process. Senator Javed Abbasi was appointed the polling agent on behalf of the opposition, while Senator Nauman Wazir was appointed on behalf of the government. Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem was the first one to cast the vote. As the voting ended, the votes were counted. 50 votes were casted in favour of the motion. The votes required for the resolution to be adopted were 53.

Similarly, Senate Deputy Chairperson Salim Mandviwala also survived a no-confidence motion submitted by the government. 32 votes were casted in favour of the resolution. The votes required for the resolution to be adopted were 53. Therefore, the resolution was rejected.