Proper planning

In the wake of the defeat of Hafeez Sheikh in the recently held Senate election, PTI ministers and spokespersons have said that they would approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to reconsider their earlier complaint about the video clip of Ali Haider Gilani, son of Senator-elect Yousuf Raza Gilani and that the PTI-led government would seek a vote of confidence from parliament.

I don’t agree with the ruling party’s plan. If I were Imran Khan, I would have gone to the Supreme Court (SC) and pointed out that the ECP had failed to ensure the corruption-free election as mentioned in the most recent verdict by the SC. Also, I would have asked the opposition to bring the no-confidence vote against me in the assembly. There is a lot of difference between getting a vote of confidence from parliament and asking others to secure a no-confidence vote against the government. In the first case, the onus of securing 172 votes would lie upon the one asking for a vote of confidence. In the second case, it would be a problem (and a big one too) for the opposition to arrange 172 votes in the open ballot.

Col (r) Riaz Jafri

Rawalpindi