No-confidence motion against deputy chairman Mandviwala rejected
A total of 53 votes are required to remove the deputy chairman from his office.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala on Thursday survived a no-confidence resolution tabled by the government.
The resolution tabled by the government against Saleem Mandviwalla failed to gain clear majority as it received 32 votes.
Voting took place through a secret ballot with a total of 53 votes required to remove the deputy chairman.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a no-confidence motion had been submitted against the Senate chairman, demanding he resigns from his post.
Earlier, the no-trust motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, tabled by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, had been rejected.
A total of 100 senators, including Sanjrani, took part in the polling process. Senator Javed Abbasi was appointed the polling agent on behalf of the opposition, while Senator Nauman Wazir was appointed on behalf of the government.
50 votes were received in favour of the no-confidence motion while the opposition needed at least 53 votes for the resolution to be passed but fell just three votes short of victory.
The upper House took up the first-ever no-trust motions against chairman and deputy chairman, both of them cannot chair the session according to the rules; hence President Arif Alvi had nominated Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to chair the session.
