ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui has said that defeat by just one vote in Senate on the SBP Bill is a severe blow to the opposition.

Leaders of the opposition parties will have to sit down and deliberate why such an ugly situation has arisen.

Members who were absent from the session should be questioned as to what was the justification for their absence from the Senate on such an important occasion. Senator Irfan Siddiqui said that the absence of Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Leader of the Opposition, was like a captain sending ten members team to the field and sitting himself out. Gilani sent several text messages to each senator to ensure their attendance on Friday.

Contrary to the general tradition, his staff called each and every one of the senators several times to convey Gilani’s message and insisted on their presence.

The absence of the Leader of the Opposition outweighs the absence of the other seven members.

The Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, just two days earlier, had announced in a press conference that we are going to lay this bill in Senate and will get it passed before February 12th IMF meeting.

Not only the senators but the ordinary office employees were also aware of the fact that SBP bill would be laid in the Senate session on Friday.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui said that If this is the case with open voting, then it is quite clear what is going to happen with secret ballot.

He further said that after this voting fiasco, the numerical majority of the opposition in the Senate stands meaningless.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022