Sattar says to take action against senator for voting in favor of PML-N

KARACHI: A day after the Senate passed an election bill paving way for otherwise ineligible Nawaz Sharif to take the helm of the PML-N with help of two opposition parties – including Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) – its leader Dr Farooq Sattar vowed to take action against the party senator who voted in favour of the treasury, rejecting opposition’s amendment.

The Senate passed the Election Bill 2017 with a majority vote, doing away with the legal bar on a person to serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is either not qualified to be, or disqualified from being elected as a member of a parliament under Article 63 of the Constitution. An amendment proposed by leader of the Opposition in the Senate Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan to Clause 203 (1) relating to membership of political parties was rejected with a majority vote – 39 against 38.

Questioning how a disqualified person be office-bearer of a political party when he is barred from indulging in political activities, Dr Farooq Sattar said he will take action against his party’s senator who voted in favour of the treasury benches. “The amendment introduced by the opposition leader was appropriate and we supported it,” he said while speaking to media after his appearance before an anti-terrorism court.

Political analysts described the day of passage of the bill as a grim day for the opposition parties whose combined strength is more than that of treasury benches, despite that they couldn’t pre-empt the bill without the amendment proposed by Aitzaz.

They said MQM senator Mian Attiq turned the tables by giving his vote in favour of the government.

Dr Sattar seemed to be crying over split milk since he was in the know about the senator’s intentions prior the passage of the bill, but failed to stop him to deal a blow to the opposition benches with supporting an amendment in the bill proposed by the treasury benches.