The elections of the Upper House kept throwing curveballs. The Senate elections of 2021 proved to be the biggest arena to demonstrate the power on the electoral board. As if the shocker of the National Assembly upset wasn’t enough, history repeated itself rather quickly this time. Earlier this month, Mr Yousuf Raza Gillani outvoted the government candidate, Dr Hafeez Sheikh, by five votes, tallying 169 votes against 164 votes to clinch his mark as a senator. While he was subsequently nominated by the PDM alliance for the election of Senate Chairman, Prime minister Imran Khan took an unprecedented decision of requesting a vote of confidence from the National Assembly.
The vote passed comfortably, again rattling the expectations as he tallied a total of 178 votes; two more than he was speculating. Whilst the hype gained day by day with the PTI filing a petition in the Election Commission to impede the notification of the success of Mr Yousuf Raza Gillani on the account of horse-trading, the PDM alliance mocked the efforts. The notification was issued regardless which left the government alliance all but dismayed. That was until a revived hue of confidence suddenly settled in the PTI benches. On the contrary, the PDM alliance started to panic despite having a winning majority in the Senate. Clearly the wheels were turning.
As the Senate elections are safeguarded by the Constitution’s Articles 60 and 69 from having the cases reviewed by the election tribunal, the only sage option remains is to opt for a vote of no-confidence. However, in the light of the crushing defeat in the contest for the deputy chairman, it is apparent that the cancelled votes were never legitimate to begin with. Thus, the lacklustre opposition has no path but to focus on the long march, clinging to the possibility of a miracle as the government enjoys its rejuvenation after months
With Mr. Sadiq Sanjrani running for Senate Chairman as the nominee of the government alliance, the confidence was further boosted with his active campaign to compel the opposition alliance, with the exception of the PML(N) and the PPP, to vote for him. The labyrinth of statements, accusations and counter arguments almost made it too hard to follow the twists and turns of the election, or te developing of events, so fast were they occurring. With Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Haideri nominated by the PDM alliance for Deputy Chairman and the matching nomination of Mirza Mohammad Afridi by the PTI alliance, the game was all set to dawn on the eve of 12 March. The results didn’t fail to surprise either.
Right off the bat, the opposition benches pulled the gimmick of alleged cameras in the voting booths. While the issue was put to rest by the Presiding Officer; immediately forming a committee to investigate the concerns, this was the start of the decimation of the opposition. With the results tallied, Mr. Sadiq Sanjrani managed to eke out the victory right off the claws of the opposition; grabbing all 48 expected votes from the House. The counter position, however, was eye opening. Mr. Yousuf Raza Gillani received a total of 42 votes while 7 votes were rejected on the grounds of incorrect placement on the ballot paper of the mark in his favour. Even after a heated discussion with the representatives of Mr. Gillani, the election was announced in favour of Mr. Sanjrani, who took oath for the second consecutive time as Chairman Senate.
The following election was a turnaround that hardly anyone expected at this stage. With te vote count completed, Mirza Mohammad Afridi won the election with a total of 54 votes to his name, leaving Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Haideri trailing with only 44 votes. This shocker confirmed the preceding election as a viable procedure; the 7 rejected votes not being a mistake but a schemed attempt to nudge Mr. Sanjrani forward.
The clear upset has resonated hard in the ranks of the PDM, many of whom are turning heads to identify the backstabbers while many are infuriated whilst planning the aftermath of the debacle. As the Senate elections are safeguarded by the Constitution’s Articles 60 and 69 from having the cases reviewed by the election tribunal, the only sage option remains is to opt for a vote of no-confidence. However, in the light of the crushing defeat in the contest for the deputy chairman, it is apparent that the cancelled votes were never legitimate to begin with. Thus, the lacklustre opposition has no path but to focus on the long march, clinging to the possibility of a miracle as the government enjoys its rejuvenation after months.
