ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has put the entire responsibility of Friday’s Senate election fiasco on the secretary of the Senate Secretariat and demanded that he should be “dismissed and put in jail”.

Speaking at a news conference at the PPP Media Office here on Saturday, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said the conduct of the elections of Senate chairman and deputy chairman was the responsibility of the Senate Secretariat and not the Election Commission of Pakistan and the secretariat had failed to fulfil its responsibilities in this regard.

Mr Ghani said that not only the secretary was responsible for installation of spy cameras inside the Senate hall, he also “misguided” the voters and the polling agent of a candidate by telling them that the stamp could be put on the name of a candidate on the ballot paper and that it would be a valid vote.

Mr Ghani said after detection of spy cameras at the polling booth and inside the Senate hall, he along with Farooq Naek and Qasim Gilani, the son of Yousuf Raza Gilani, met the Senate secretary fearing that after failure of the government’s camera plan, there must be some other plan.

Official accused of telling voters that stamp can be put on candidate’s name

“We asked him that often it happens that a voter puts stamps on the name of the candidate — these were the exact words — so is that vote valid or invalid. And the secretary said that the vote [would be] completely valid because the stamp is inside the box.”

The PPP leader claimed that even during the polling, when one of the senators told Sherry Rehman that someone had put the stamp on the name of PPP candidate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, she approached the secretary and his reply was the same that it would be a valid vote.

Mr Ghani said when Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah as the presiding officer was announcing rejection of the votes through a ruling, the secretary told Ms Rehman that the presiding officer had “over-ruled” him.

He alleged that the Senate secretary was also involved in the “rigging”. He asked the secretary to tell the names of those who had installed spy cameras and other equipment inside the Senate hall, which was under his custody.

Demanding that the secretary should be sacked, Mr Ghani said he was not fit for any government job.

He recalled that only a day before the elections for the posts of Senate chairman and deputy, federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz in a TV show had said the government would do anything to win the election and his body language was telling that they could break the laws and rules to achieve this goal and “the government did it exactly.”

Mr Ghani said spy cameras had been installed inside the polling booth by the government to monitor their own members.

“This was a criminal act by the government. It was a joke that when the government was caught red-handed it started accusing the opposition of installing those spy cameras,” he went on saying.

The PPP leader said the Senate hall was under the custody of both the Senate secretary and Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and, therefore, the latter should also be dismissed with the security staff of the Secretariat.

Mr Ghani ridiculed the ruling given by Muzaffar Hussain Shah and alleged that he was acting as “more loyal than the king.”

He said the instructions regarding the voting process which were placed at different places in the Senate hall clearly stated that the stamp should be in the box containing the candidate’s name.

“There was only one box for each candidate so the voters could stamp anywhere in the box. The instructions in Urdu and English were different and both had been issued by the Senate Secretariat,” he said.

Mr Ghani dispelled the perception that the voters had intentionally wasted their votes.

“This perception is incorrect because if they wanted to waste their votes there were several other ways to do it. They were all our genuine voters,” the PPP leader said.

Replying to a question, he said the decision to approach courts on the issue would be taken by the PPP leadership with the consultation of the component parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports at social media that the seven opposition senators had specifically been asked to put the stamp on the name of Mr Gilani as a mark of confirmation that they had voted for him as the party was doubtful about their commitment. Interestingly, the reports claim that five of these senators had been asked to put the stamp at five different places i.e. on the words “Senator”, “Syed”, “Yousuf”, “Raza” and “Gilani” whereas the two others had been asked to put the stamp on two parts of Mr Gilani’s name.

Mr Ghani termed such reports an attempt to divert attention from the real issue of spy cameras and rejection of the votes. He said the issue was not where the stamp had been put, the issue was whether the votes were valid or not.

Bilawal has trust in opposition senators

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto- Zardari has termed the installation of spy cameras inside the Senate hall before the elections of chairman and deputy chairman of the upper house a “Watergate-like scandal”.

Speaking to the party leaders at a dinner hosted by him for the PPP senators at Zardari House, Mr Bhutto-Zardari dispelled the impression that some opposition senators had intentionally wasted their votes by stamping on the name of Mr Gilani.

“No one had put the stamp wrongly. I have complete trust in all the opposition senators,” sources quoted Mr Bhutto-Zardari as having said in his brief speech on the occasion.

He said all the opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, were united on the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

The PPP chairman said the party would soon challenge the ruling given by Muzaffar Hussain Shah as the presiding to reject seven ballots in the Friday’s poll before the high court.

The sources said the party members attending the dinner were of the view that they should not resign from the assemblies rather should consolidate their position inside the parliament.

Talking to Dawn, PPP secretary general Farhatullah Babar said: “After the Senate elections, the possibility of resignation from the parliament has further receded.”

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2021