No-confidence motion: government, opposition not in a hurry to have Senate session

Even though the joint opposition has moved a no-confidence motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, yet it appears that neither the opposition nor treasury benches are in hurry to have the related session of the upper House of the Parliament convened to take up the motion.
Both sides, the government and opposition, are presently engaged in securing maximum numbers for and against the chairman Senate respectively and are not seriously pushing for having the Senate session convened, Business Recorder learnt.
"It's all about the numbers-unless either of the two sides is sure that it has the support of desired number of senators, for or against the no-confidence motion, it would not push for convening the Senate session," said a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senator, requesting anonymity.
"Had the opposition been sure that they are in position to de-seat Sanjrani, they would have created hue and cry that the Senate session has not been summoned more than 10 days after the submission of related requisition by the opposition," the source commented.
On July 9, the opposition senators, except from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), submitted a no-confidence resolution for the removal of chairman Senate. This is the only no-confidence motion ever moved against a chairman Senate in Pakistan's legislative history. The same day, opposition also submitted a requisition to have the related Senate session convened to consider the motion.
However, despite the lapse of more than ten days, the opposition has not shown any 'enthusiasm' to have the session convened.
Discussions with well-placed sources in opposition suggest that after moving the no-confidence motion, the opposition was expecting that chairman Senate would step down to avoid no-confidence motion considering that more than 60 senators in 104-member upper House belong to opposition. The opposition, according to sources, was also anticipating that the chairman Senate's resignation would pressurise Prime Minister Imran Khan's government to soften its otherwise tough stance against the top leaders of key opposition parties.
However, the opposition's strategy does not appear to have worked. The chairman Senate has refused to step down and has decided to face no-confidence motion. Moreover, the government, in a tit-for-tat response to opposition's no-confidence motion, moved a no-confidence motion against Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla who belongs to Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
"For us, the opposition, this is not an easy battle given that Sanjrani has the reputation of having strong backing of the powers-that-be. Plus, the voting on no-confidence motion is held through secret ballot which means nobody knows who votes for whom. The situation becomes supportive for treasury benches that can use the government machinery to change loyalties," said a senior opposition leader, who wished not to be named.
Over the last few days, chairman Senate has held meetings with top government figures including PM Imran Khan who has assured him of his party's full support in foiling the no-confidence motion.
On the other hand, opposition leaders have also huddled together frequently in a bid to map out a decisive strategy against Sanjrani.
Speaking to the media after a meeting of opposition leaders at the Parliament House on Friday, opposition's nominee for chairman Senate slot Hasil Bizenjo claimed that the opposition has the backing of 66 senators while government only has the support of 33 senators. "It's not about Baloch or Balochistan. It's about democracy and principles. He (Sanjrani) is the representative of the government. I am the representative of the opposition," Bizenjo, who hails from Balochistan, said.
He demanded that the Senate session be convened to consider the no-confidence motion. "The government is using different tactics against the no-confidence motion. No matter how hard the government may try, the opposition would not bow down to pressure," Bizenjo said
Leader of the Opposition in Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq said the opposition has responded to a letter from the chairman Senate, (in which he officially intimated all the senators about the no-confidence motion against himself, as per a constitutional requirement.) "In response to his letter, we have written to chairman Senate that he cannot preside over the Senate session in which no-confidence motion against him would be considered," he said.
It merits a mentioning here that earlier on Wednesday, Zafar-ul-Haq held a low-key meeting with chairman Senate amid speculations that the joint opposition was set to withdraw the no-confidence motion against Sanjrani.
The actual agenda of the said meeting remains a mystery as both Sanjrani and Haq are reluctant to share details of the meeting that took place at the Parliament House.
However, insiders at former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) believe that the meeting between Zafar-ul-Haq, who is also PML-N chairman, and Sadiq Sanjrani, implies that the N-League has softened its policy towards Sanjrani in a bid to mend ways with the state institutions amidst problems piling up for the former ruling party especially in the aftermath of accountability judge's videos leak controversy.