Senate elections are just round the corner and all parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have finalised their candidates.
The PTI is eyeing a majority in the Senate after the polls while the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), is seeing these elections as an opportunity to topple the Imran-led government.
Both are hoping to bag the Senate seat from Islamabad for which voting will be held in the National Assembly — lower house of parliament dominated by the PTI and its allies. PTI has fielded Hafeez Sheikh, whereas the opposition has nominated Pakistan People’s Party leader Yousaf Raza Gillani for the seat.
The competition between Gillani and Sheikh is of great significance: if Gillani wins the seats — for that he would need to woo at least 15 lawmakers of the ruling alliance — then this would prepare the ground for a no-trust vote against the PM. This would be the victory of the PPP as well because out of all the PDM parties, only the People’s Party favours the no-confidence move against Imran Khan.
The PDM parties also look hopeful. They believe Gillani, who had served as the prime minister during PPP’s tenure, will be able to secure the seat for two reasons: his personal standing as a politician and the disgruntled allies of the ruling PTI.
According to reports, the PTI lawmakers and allied parties’ lawmakers are not happy with the PM’s decision to award ticket to his aide on finance and many see him as a “parashooter” in the PTI ranks. The observers believe that the opposition will be able to cash in on these grievances if Gillani runs the campaign seriously. A senior journalist also claimed that at least 20 members of the PTI are going to vote for Gillani in case of secret ballot.
If Gillani wins, the opposition will ask the prime minister to resign. And as PPP’s Kaira says it would be a mere formality because the PTI nominee’s defeat in the Senate election would pave way for Imran’s ouster.
NUMBERS GAME:
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies have an advantage of around 15 votes. The PTI has 156 votes, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has five MNAs, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has seven MNAs, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has three, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has five MNAs and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed’s Awami Muslim League has one. They will be supported by an independent lawmaker, Aslam Bhootani from Balochistan. All these members put together come to 179, as per The News.
On the other hand, the PML-N has 83 seats, the PPP has 54 lawmakers, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) or Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has 15 MNAs, the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has four seats, and the Awami National Party (ANP) has one lawmaker in the lower house. Three independents, including PTM’s Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, along with another independent lawmaker, are likely to back the PDM candidate. So, Gillani is supported by 160 members.
