Our Senators are being called and asked not to vote for PDM, claims Maryam Nawaz
Some of them [Senators] have recorded the evidence, says Maryam Nawaz ahead of the Senate chairman elections
March 11, 2021
- Maryam Nawaz says some of the Senators who received the calls have recorded evidence of it.
- The Senate chairman election will be held on March 12.
- The govt has accused the Opposition of using money to influence the results of the recently-held Senate elections.
As the race for the post of the Senate chairman heats up between the government and the Opposition parties, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz claimed that her party's Senators were being told not to vote for the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) candidate.
On Friday, March 12, the upper house of the Parliament will elect its chairman and deputy chairman Senate. The government has decided to back the current Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani while the PDM has thrown its weight behind former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who pulled a shock victory over the PTI's Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the recently-held Senate elections.
Read more: Newly elected Senate members to be sworn in on March 12
Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Maryam claimed that PML-N Senators were being called and asked not to vote for Gillani in the upcoming Senate chairman election.
"Our senators are being called and asked not to vote for PDM candidate. Some of them have recorded the evidence," she tweeted.
The Senate elections, that took place on March 3, have heightened tensions between the government and the Opposition after Gillani defeated Shaikh by polling 169 votes against his opponent's 164 votes. Six votes were rejected while one was not polled.
Following the development, PM Imran Khan had addressed the nation, accusing the Opposition of spending money to influence the elections.
Read more: PM Imran Khan vows to never let the corrupt off the hook, whether in power or not
"What sort of democracy is this? So I began a campaign for open balloting," PM Imran Khan had said during his address.
The premier said in the 2018 Senate elections, the party found that 20 lawmakers "sold themselves off".
"But it was not just me that had started this. The PML-N and PPP signed a Charter of Democracy favouring the open balloting method because money rules in the Senate elections," he had stressed.
"We presented a bill in the parliament for open balloting in Senate elections. When other parties who previously supported open balloting did not support our demand, we went to the Supreme Court.
"Even a video surfaced in which KP MPAs were receiving bribes in exchange for Senate votes," PM Imran Khan had said.
PTI will do everything necessary for Sadiq Sanjrani’s win in Senate: Shibli Faraz
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz made a statement that was seen as controversial by some when he said during a current affairs show that the PTI would employ any tactic to secure victory for Senate chairman Safiq Sanjrani in the upcoming election.
Speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath,’ the minister had said the government would do whatever is required to win the Senate chairman slot.
While responding to media reports about the government’s offer to JUI-F, Faraz had said no formal offer has been made to Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for the post of Senate deputy chairman, and neither it is possible.
“The JUI-F is just raising the matter to gain importance,” he had said.
“Abdul Ghafoor Haideri came to meet us and we informally discussed these things while having food in the library,” he had said, adding that the government also goes to Opposition senators for seeking votes in the Senate elections.
