Pakistan - The new Senate

The 2015 Senate elections did not result in a clear majority for any of the political parties. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were able to gather the most votes, gaining 27 and 26 seats respectively. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) came in third with six seats. The strongest parties in the Senate began vying for control of the body by attempting to gather support for potential chairperson and deputy chairperson nominees from amongst their own members. PPP was able to get the support of MQM, the Awami National Party (ANP), the F and Q factions of PML and the Jamiat-i-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) in their bid for Raza Rabbani as Senate chairman. MQM has attached a condition to their support for Rabbani: they have instructed their members to “abstain” from voting for the Senate leaders in case all their demands are not met by the PPP and PML-N. Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif backed the consensus on Rabbani and stated that PML-N would not be putting up any candidates for the positions of Senate chairperson and deputy chairperson. The PM highlighted his drive to resolve all major political issues through consensus with the other parties and commented that Raza Rabbani was a good choice for chairman since he has always been a decent politician.

These Senate elections saw a flurry of political activity and controversy amid allegations of horse-trading and the PML-N government resorting to last minute efforts to pass a 22nd amendment for fear of the defection of members of their own party. Upon not being able to garner enough support for this amendment, particularly from PPP and to a lesser degree JUI-F, the government let the elections go through as they were scheduled and via secret ballots. Despite the hype created by PTI and further “rigging” allegations after the elections, there has not been rampant vote trading in the Senate elections. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asked PTI to come forward with “hard evidence” if they wanted an investigation regarding malfeasance in the Senate elections, yet such evidence has not surfaced so far. PTI Chairman Imran Khan has also pledged to boycott the vote for chairperson and deputy chairperson, claiming that the “nation does not want the politics of settlement anymore”.

Nevertheless, PML-N deserves credit for accepting Raza Rabbani as the joint candidate of the other parties for the chairmanship of the Senate. Despite its shortfalls, the PML-N government has worked on strengthening intra-party cooperation and attempted to gain consensus on all crucial issues through talks and All Parties Conferences (APCs). Even the bid to change the Senate electoral process to open ballots was put before an APC and since it was not a viable option, a consensus was not reached and the 22nd Amendment was not brought to parliament. Party cooperation and the test of intra-party talks are essential to determine which political move is the best for the country as a whole in the long term. “The politics of settlement,” as Imran Khan calls it, is necessary to ensure compromise and cooperation in a democracy and to focus on the needs of the people rather than those of the parties alone. The PPP has suggested that the deputy chairman be elected from Balochistan. This move, if it pans out, will help politically empower the province, which has been disgruntled and disenfranchised for long. In order to strengthen parliament, it is necessary to incorporate as much political and regional diversity as possible in its representation. What Pakistan needs, to crawl out of the shadows of its history of dictatorship, is the division of power, decentralised control and a strong parliament, which represents the interests of all demographics of people.