Tag: Yousuf Raza Gilani

  • PPP wants Yusuf Raza Gillani as Chairman Senate

    PPP wants Yusuf Raza Gillani as Chairman Senate

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has made a decisive move in selecting former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani as its nominee for the position of Senate chairman.

    Gilani, who recently resigned from the Senate and subsequently took oath as a member of the National Assembly, has emerged as the party’s top choice for the role of Chairman Senate.

    Despite the resignation, PPP leadership remains steadfast in their decision regarding Gilani’s candidacy for the Senate chairmanship, according to a report by The News on Saturday.

    The Bilawal Bhutto-led party is actively consulting its legal and political experts to determine the most appropriate path for Gilani’s re-election to the Senate.

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has scheduled Senate by-elections for March 14 to fill vacant seats, but the timetable for the upcoming main Senate elections, due to the retirement of half the senators on March 11, has not yet been announced.

    PPP insiders reveal that the party’s legal team is weighing the options available for Gilani’s return to the Senate, whether through the by-election or the subsequent Senate elections for a six-year term.

    The final decision, expected within a day or two, will hinge on the advice of PPP lawyers, who will obtain nomination papers for the Senate by-election on the seat vacated by Gilani.

    If approved by the party leadership, Gilani will file his nomination for the Senate by-election from Islamabad, the constituency he won after resigning from the Senate.

    However, this course of action may change if PPP leadership opts for Gilani to contest the main Senate elections instead.

    Sources within the PPP also indicate that Gilani remains a top contender for the Senate chairman position, with details of his candidacy finalized in coordination with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Gilani has entrusted the decision to PPP’s top leadership.

    If elected as Senate chairman, Gilani would achieve a unique distinction, having served in the top three constitutional posts in the country: Speaker of the National Assembly, Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Chairman of the Senate.

    While Gilani previously contested the Senate chairman election in 2021, he narrowly missed out on victory after seven of his votes were deemed invalid, leading to the election of Senator Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate chairman.

    He won the seat of the National Assembly in general elections which was contested by his rival. On February 11, after the recount in National Assembly constituency NA-148, the number of votes obtained by the former PM increased.

    Upon the request of Independent candidate Barrister Taimur Malik, the process of verification of Form 45 was carried out in the RO office.
    Resultantly, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani secured victory with 67,377 votes, while Taimur Malik remained runner-up with 67,047 votes. According to Form 47, Gilani had defeated Taimur Malik by a lead of 293 votes previously in the first count. After recounting, Gilani’s lead increased to 330 votes.

  • Did Gilani just throw Bilawal under the bus?

    Did Gilani just throw Bilawal under the bus?

    Former prime minister (PM) and incumbent leader of the opposition in Senate, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said it was Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s decision to seek the support of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) lawmakers for his election to the post.

    “They approached that we, a four-member group headed by Dilawar, want to join you. They didn’t approach me, they approached chairman sahib [Bilawal],” he said.

    He made the revelation in an interview with a private media outlet, where he also said he was neither interested in the seat of the Senate chairmanship nor leader of the opposition, but it was Bilawal who made the decision.

    His nomination for the slot and ultimate win despite joint opposition’s reservations is what is the latest and apparently the biggest bone of contention between the PPP and PDM so far.

    Gilani, who was in a straight contest with PML-N candidate Azam Nazeer Tarar, had earlier denied using the votes of BAP senators, saying he had secured the seat with the support of 30 “opposition” senators.

    These included 21 members from the PPP, two from the Awami National Party, one from the Jamaat-e-Islami, two independents from erstwhile Fata (Hidayatulla and Hilalur Rahman) and four from the independent group of Dilawar Khan, who had been supporting the PML-N in the past. Other members of the group include Kaira Babar, Naseebullah Bazai and Ahmad Khan.

    Speaking in the programme on Monday, Gilani expressed support for the decision to secure votes from BAP senators and said they were disgruntled members who approached Bilawal for the post of leader of the opposition in the Senate.

    “But what is wrong in taking their support?” he questioned.

    Gilani further said that the PDM must stay intact but the decision to resign from assemblies had come out of the blue.

    He questioned what would be the next move after the resignations came, adding that this was what the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) would ask them.

    Gilani’s son and PPP member Kasim Gilani, however, has lamented “spread of disinformation” regarding the interview.

    Taking to Twitter he clarified his father’s statement.

    Meanwhile, ANP has reportedly withdrawn from the PDM after show-cause notices were issued to the party to explain their actions during the recently-held Senate polls.

    They had voted for Gilani in a move deemed betrayal by the opposition alliance but democratic right by the PPP and ANP.

  • PML-N offers Gilani Senate chairmanship if he brings his ’31 votes’ to table

    PML-N offers Gilani Senate chairmanship if he brings his ’31 votes’ to table

    Amid deteriorating ties between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) over former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s election as the leader of opposition in Senate, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has put forth a rather interesting offer.

    Speaking to media, PML-N bigwig Rana Sanaullah has offered Gilani to bring his 31 votes in the Upper House to the table and get elected as the chairman with 27 others of the PML-N in the 104-member house.

    While the PPP is yet to respond to the offer, here’s what you need to know about Gilani becoming the opposition leader in Senate…

    Last week, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani notified Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate after the PPP submitted a list of 31 senators to him.

    PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarrar had the support of 21 opposition senators while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which has five senators, did not support any candidate.

    “In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate, with effect from March 26, 2021,” read a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.

    The list carried the signatures of 30 senators; 21 PPP senators, two from the Awami National Party (ANP), one from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), two from the erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and five from independent Senator Dilawar Khan Group.

    With the appointment of Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate, the gulf between the PPP and PML-N widened, putting the 10-parties PDM alliance on the rocks.

  • Top PPP leaders also unhappy over reason behind differences with Opp alliance

    Top PPP leaders also unhappy over reason behind differences with Opp alliance

    Former Senate chairman and senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has said that the party should not have taken the support of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Dilawar Khan group in the Senate for the post of opposition leader in the upper house of Parliament.

    The move, that has also been spoken against by PPP’s Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, is the latest bone of contention among members of the joint opposition, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

    “Though the slot of the opposition leader in the Senate was right of the PPP being a largest single party at the opposition benches, it should not take n the support of the BAP Senators Dilawar group for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate,” he said while answering a query of The News on Wednesday.

    Rabbani said the support of BAP in the Senate was not good for the ideological foundations of the PPP, adding that rules of the Senate were clear that the slot goes to the single largest party at the opposition benches.

    He advised the opposition to keep its unity intact for broader object of supremacy of the constitution and parliament and objectives of supremacy of the constitution could not be achieved without unity in the ranks of the opposition.

    “It’s time to stand united to achieve the objectives,” he said.

    Earlier, Khokhar also said that the party should not have sought the support of BAP and led to this infighting that is only benefitting the government.

  • Gilani becomes Senate’s Opp leader

    Gilani becomes Senate’s Opp leader

    Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has notified newly-elected Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Upper House of the parliament after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nominated him for the slot with the support of 30 of his colleagues.

    “In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the Chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, with effect from 26th March, 2021,” read the notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.

    Former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani had earlier in the day filed nomination papers for the slot, according to pictures shared by PPP Senator Rubina Khalid on Twitter.

    PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarrar, according to reports, had the support of 21 opposition senators while five-senator-strong Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) did not support any candidate.

    Talking to the media after submitting the request, Senator Sherry Rehman said the PPP’s request has the signatures of 21 senators from the party, two from the Awami National Party (ANP), one from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), two from erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and four members from Dilawar Khan’s independent group.

    To a query about what this would mean for the opposition alliance the fate of which was in the balance over the tussle now won by the PPP, she said it wasn’t the funeral of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) but a right of the PPP.