Senate Leader of House says…: Opp contradicting its 2016 stance against horse trading

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in the Senate of Pakistan Senator Shahzad Waseem Thursday said that the opposition was contradicting its own stance opted in 2016 against horse trading in the meeting of the Senate Committee of the Whole.

He said that in 2015, Mian Raza Rabbani was the Chairman Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq was the Leader of the House and Aitzaz Ahsan was the Leader of the Opposition, and the issue of horse trading was debated in the Upper House on August 7, 2015. On August 10, 2015, the Leader of the House moved a motion to refer the matter to the Senate Committee of the Whole. The committee met on Nov 11, 2015 and May 12 2016. On May 20, 2016, the Committee of the Whole presented its proposals. These were unanimous proposals and no one opposed them.

The committee suggested that transparency in the Senate elections was not possible without electoral reforms.

The committee also suggested that the names of the voters should be published on the ballot paper and the vote should be identifiable.

Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shahbaz Gill, Senator Shahzad said a market was set up every time in the Senate elections.

He said Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto had signed an agreement under the Charter of Democracy to ensure transparency in the Senate elections, but the promise was not fulfilled. “Their statements are on record in which they supported the transparency of open ballot,” he said, adding that PML-N and PPP passed 18th Amendment but no action was taken on the issue.

Despite all promises, long rule and majority, the opposition did nothing to ensure transparency in the Senate elections because their intentions were wrong, he said. Senator Shahzad said that in the Supreme Court, the National Assembly speaker, Senate chairman, speakers of assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had supported the open ballot.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf expelled its 20 MPAs from the party on allegation of minting money in the Senate elections process.

Earlier, Shahzad Waseem expressed his grief over the sad demise of Senator Mushahidullah Khan.