Voting for no-trust motion against Chairman Senate today

ISLAMABAD: Authorities have finalised preparations for the upcoming session of the Upper House as voting for the no-trust motions against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjran and the Deputy Chairman Salim Mandivalla is scheduled to take place in the Senate session today (Thursday), ARY News reported.

Ballot papers for the forthcoming voting in Senate have been prepared which will be used for secret voting by senators in accordance with their names in alphabetic order.

It is declared mandatory to insert vote into the ballot box after casting vote in favour or opposition.

A Presiding Officer (PO) will also announce the schedule of elections for the vacant seats, whereas, Senator Barrister Saif will organise polls for the new chairman and deputy chairman.

The instructions were issued in a letter released by Senate Secretariat for voting on the no-confidence motion. The secretariat has also imposed a ban on carrying mobile phones in the polling booth. The letter also stated that grabbing photos of the ballot paper is also prohibited in order to ensure secrecy of the vote.

The chairman of the upper house of parliament said in a statement that he would resolutely face the opposition’s motion to oust him.

“We will rout the opposition’s no-confidence motion,” said Sanjrani who enjoys the backing of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allied parties.

He slammed the opposition parties over rumours of his stepping down from the office.

Earlier today, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari hosted a luncheon for senators of opposition parties ahead of Thursday’s voting for the no-trust motion.

Former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani briefed the opposition members about the process of voting after Bilawal Bhutto’s preliminary words of welcome. Raja Zafarul Haq and Hasil Bizenjo also addressed the event.

Earlier, on July 9, the opposition parties had submitted a resolution against Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to the secretariat of the upper house of parliament with signatures of 38 opposition members.