The loss of Yousaf Raza Gilani to Sadiq Sanjrani in the election for the Chairmanship of the Senate was not really a surprise, not because the alliance which had put up Mr Gilani, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, had a majority, but because the PTI, which had put up Mr Sanjrani, was the ruling party. Ruling parties, it seems, do not lose. It was bad enough that Mr Gilani had made it to the Senate at all, being elected by the National Assembly in the teeth of the PTI majority, and to expect him to spearhead a second defeat of the government, in the Upper House, was perhaps being over-optimistic.
Still, one effect of this defeat was to set the seal on the moral degeneration of the PTI, which enjoyed the advantage of the secret ballot it had previously decried. It had strenuously claimed that Mr Gilani had been elected because MNAs had sold their votes, with party chief Imran Khan, not caring that he was accusing his own MNAs, of venality. Now it was the PTI which had benefited from the secrecy of the ballot, with Mr Gilani losing because seven MNAs had spoilt their votes. Those votes were rejected, even though the PDM claims they were cast in Mr Gilani’s favour, and because of them it is going into appeal. While this appeal will be a first, as presiding officers’ elections have been pretty straightforward in the past, it does indicate that either some PDM Senators were dolts, or there was some external force at work.
What that force might have been may be found if there is a vigorous pursuit of the hidden cameras which were found in the polling booth. Aside from the garish light it throws on the lack of security of all of Parliament, a casual look at the relevant CCTV footage should reveal the perpetrator. The government and the opposition are accusing each other, and the attempt of the perpetrators to violate the secrecy of the ballot is so blatant, that it must not be brushed aside. There must be a thorough investigation, and the National Assembly and Senate Secretariats must both be involved in ensuring not just that responsibility is fixed, but that there is never any further repetition.
