As politics in Pakistan goes in overdrive, many major decisions have appeared on the horizon for all stakeholders in this country. From the way things are shaping up, it seems that the next three months will be decisive in determining the future of Project Democracy that started in 2008.
The All Parties Conference (APC) on June 26 decided to remove Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate chairman, something Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto had agreed on in their first meeting when the young PPP leader visited Jati Umra. The APC also made two other important decisions; to pull out of the parliamentary committee tasked to probe election rigging allegations made by the opposition, and to hold the first public protest on July 25.
By the time you read these words, the candidature of the new chairman of the Senate may have been announced. Last minute consultations and lobbying were in top gear while this article was being written. At the end of the day, the decision will be made by the PML-N and the PPP, who have the highest number of seats in the Upper House. Many names were discussed by the PML-N leadership caucus, but the names that topped the list included Raja Zafarulhaq, Pervaiz Rasheed, Mushahidullah and Dr Musadiq Malik. However the final decision rests with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and will be communicated accordingly.
Background discussions conducted by this scribe with the top leadership of the PPP and the PML-N revealed that both have agreed on replacing Sadiq Sanjrani with a man of experience, eloquence and integrity who could face this regime without wavering and vacillating.
“If we have to have another dummy, then there is no point in replacing Sanjrani. We might as well continue with him as he has accommodated us well,” said a leader requesting anonymity.
Shrewd Maulana Fazalur Rehman is also trying to avail an opportunity. He is trying to pitch Ghafoor Hyderi for the slot of the new chairman or the deputy chairman, but his chances are not too bright as the PPP and PML-N together can make or break this game, and they can do it without Maulana’s help.
The real dark horse in the race is Senator Hasil Bizenjo. Background discussions with the leaders of both the PML-N and the PPP revealed good chances for the Baloch leader.
“It makes perfect sense for us to go for Hasil Bizenjo. He is known for his radical views. Since we are replacing a Baloch chairman, it also makes sense for us to go for Bizenjo. We can say now we have a real son of Balochistan, with strong sense of history, great calibre and integrity,” said a top leader of the PML-N, indicating that Mian Nawaz Sharif might suggest his name and seal the deal.
The opposition has eyes on the unfolding situation and they are running various scenarios for their campaign to oust Imran Khan. The next Senate elections are a year and a half away. In this period, they want a chairman under whose protection they may fire shots at Khan’s government, especially if they are not able to oust it in the near future.
On Tuesday, the opposition’s intentions were conveyed after they submitted the vote of no confidence against Sadiq Sanjrani. That gives the incumbent roughly two weeks to summon the session. This also gives ample time to Imran Khan’s administration to play their cards if they want to further frustrate the opposition. Roughly speaking, the show down may coincide with the protest rallies of the opposition on July 25 and the prime minister’s visit to the US.
If it was only a numbers game, Sadiq Sanjrani’s time would have been over as the opposition has an overwhelming majority. But since voting for Sanjrani’s ouster and election of the new chairman will be conducted through secret ballot, there is plenty of wriggle room and an opportunity for those who use intimidation and vote buying as their strategy.
Maryam and Bilawal are reaching out to the public through rallies, social media and press conferences, with the mother of all press conferences held in Lahore last Saturday. The explosive presser by Maryam Nawaz Sharif was chosen carefully, with the entire top leadership of the party, including the party President Shehbaz Sharif, in attendance.
A confident looking Maryam Nawaz Sharif released the video of accountability court judge Arshad Malik discussing in detail how he had wronged the former prime minister by sending him to jail.
The tape revealed that the judge was blackmailed after he was showed a video in compromising circumstances. The judge, however, issued a press release the next day claiming that the video was portrayed out of context and that actually he was blackmailed and harassed by the PML-N and even offered kickbacks if he acquitted the former premier.
The judge, however, did not say why he remained silent about it for seven months and spoke only after Maryam’s press conference.
Imran Khan’s government was shocked at first but then came out promising investigation and forensic examination of the tape. Soon the administration realised that this won’t help them and Imran Khan distanced his government from the tape and left it to the judiciary to decide what they wanted to do with it. So far, despite some meetings of the judges of the higher judiciary, no word has come out as to how, if at all, they want to proceed with the scandal raising questions about the entire judicial process.
In a bizarre move, the NAB has put in a petition before an accountability court to try Maryam Nawaz for putting up a fabricated trust deed in a case whose conviction has suspended by the Islamabad High Court.
The accountability court issued a notice on the same day, asking Maryam Nawaz to appear on July 19. Most legal experts raised eyebrows about the timing and questioned the legal standing of the notice. To many, it was another attempt to strike back at Maryam after her explosive press conference last Saturday. Her response so far is more defiance than submission. It is clear that this summer is hotter than usual. Will the monsoon bring some respite? We will have to wait and see.
The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad.
The All Parties Conference (APC) on June 26 decided to remove Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate chairman, something Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto had agreed on in their first meeting when the young PPP leader visited Jati Umra. The APC also made two other important decisions; to pull out of the parliamentary committee tasked to probe election rigging allegations made by the opposition, and to hold the first public protest on July 25.
By the time you read these words, the candidature of the new chairman of the Senate may have been announced. Last minute consultations and lobbying were in top gear while this article was being written. At the end of the day, the decision will be made by the PML-N and the PPP, who have the highest number of seats in the Upper House. Many names were discussed by the PML-N leadership caucus, but the names that topped the list included Raja Zafarulhaq, Pervaiz Rasheed, Mushahidullah and Dr Musadiq Malik. However the final decision rests with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and will be communicated accordingly.
Background discussions conducted by this scribe with the top leadership of the PPP and the PML-N revealed that both have agreed on replacing Sadiq Sanjrani with a man of experience, eloquence and integrity who could face this regime without wavering and vacillating.
“If we have to have another dummy, then there is no point in replacing Sanjrani. We might as well continue with him as he has accommodated us well,” said a leader requesting anonymity.
Shrewd Maulana Fazalur Rehman is also trying to avail an opportunity. He is trying to pitch Ghafoor Hyderi for the slot of the new chairman or the deputy chairman, but his chances are not too bright as the PPP and PML-N together can make or break this game, and they can do it without Maulana’s help.
The real dark horse in the race is Senator Hasil Bizenjo. Background discussions with the leaders of both the PML-N and the PPP revealed good chances for the Baloch leader.
“It makes perfect sense for us to go for Hasil Bizenjo. He is known for his radical views. Since we are replacing a Baloch chairman, it also makes sense for us to go for Bizenjo. We can say now we have a real son of Balochistan, with strong sense of history, great calibre and integrity,” said a top leader of the PML-N, indicating that Mian Nawaz Sharif might suggest his name and seal the deal.
The opposition has eyes on the unfolding situation and they are running various scenarios for their campaign to oust Imran Khan. The next Senate elections are a year and a half away. In this period, they want a chairman under whose protection they may fire shots at Khan’s government, especially if they are not able to oust it in the near future.
On Tuesday, the opposition’s intentions were conveyed after they submitted the vote of no confidence against Sadiq Sanjrani. That gives the incumbent roughly two weeks to summon the session. This also gives ample time to Imran Khan’s administration to play their cards if they want to further frustrate the opposition. Roughly speaking, the show down may coincide with the protest rallies of the opposition on July 25 and the prime minister’s visit to the US.
If it was only a numbers game, Sadiq Sanjrani’s time would have been over as the opposition has an overwhelming majority. But since voting for Sanjrani’s ouster and election of the new chairman will be conducted through secret ballot, there is plenty of wriggle room and an opportunity for those who use intimidation and vote buying as their strategy.
Maryam and Bilawal are reaching out to the public through rallies, social media and press conferences, with the mother of all press conferences held in Lahore last Saturday. The explosive presser by Maryam Nawaz Sharif was chosen carefully, with the entire top leadership of the party, including the party President Shehbaz Sharif, in attendance.
A confident looking Maryam Nawaz Sharif released the video of accountability court judge Arshad Malik discussing in detail how he had wronged the former prime minister by sending him to jail.
The tape revealed that the judge was blackmailed after he was showed a video in compromising circumstances. The judge, however, issued a press release the next day claiming that the video was portrayed out of context and that actually he was blackmailed and harassed by the PML-N and even offered kickbacks if he acquitted the former premier.
The judge, however, did not say why he remained silent about it for seven months and spoke only after Maryam’s press conference.
Imran Khan’s government was shocked at first but then came out promising investigation and forensic examination of the tape. Soon the administration realised that this won’t help them and Imran Khan distanced his government from the tape and left it to the judiciary to decide what they wanted to do with it. So far, despite some meetings of the judges of the higher judiciary, no word has come out as to how, if at all, they want to proceed with the scandal raising questions about the entire judicial process.
In a bizarre move, the NAB has put in a petition before an accountability court to try Maryam Nawaz for putting up a fabricated trust deed in a case whose conviction has suspended by the Islamabad High Court.
The accountability court issued a notice on the same day, asking Maryam Nawaz to appear on July 19. Most legal experts raised eyebrows about the timing and questioned the legal standing of the notice. To many, it was another attempt to strike back at Maryam after her explosive press conference last Saturday. Her response so far is more defiance than submission. It is clear that this summer is hotter than usual. Will the monsoon bring some respite? We will have to wait and see.
The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad.