A delegation comprising representatives of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and allied parties paid a ‘solidarity’ visit to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Friday, two days after a conference attended by nearly all opposition parties decided to send him home.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting alongside Sanjrani, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza said they have called on the Senate chairman in order to ‘strengthen his hands and for solidarity’. She said the government and allied parties are of the view that Sanjrani is managing the Senate ‘in a totally neutral and impartial manner which is the actual role of the chairman of the Upper House or National Assembly speaker’.
Responding to the opposition’s criticism, Mirza said the government members have, in fact, reservations that Sanjrani was giving ‘excessive’ time to the opposition members in the Upper House. She, however, acknowledged that it is the discretion of the person in the chair to allocate time to parliamentarians.
Sanjrani said he has managed the Upper House in a ‘completely balanced’ manner. “The [chairman] knows what the conditions are down on the floor,” he maintained. Asked to comment on the opposition’s resolve to remove him from his office, Sanjrani said, “I will not say anything on this matter.”
The lawmakers who visited the Senate chairman in his chamber included members of the PTI, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeem ul Haq said any bid to replace Senate chairman will be strongly opposed by the PTI government. Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House, Haq said the government will support the Senate chairman as he is performing his duties with impartiality.
Expressing solidarity with the Senate chairman, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan said Sanjrani is performing his duties efficiently.
Talking to journalists, Kamal said that Sanjrani should not be ousted from his post, and added that they will discuss the issue with the allied parties. “Senate is a symbol of federation and the opposition wants to bring change in it,” he said.
