ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani survived a no-confidence motion by the opposition parties on Thursday, making the government describe his victory as a triumph for democracy and a defeat for those behind the move.
This was the first time in country’s history that no-confidence motions were filed against the chairman and deputy chairman of the Upper House of Parliament. The resolution against the chairman was submitted by the opposition parties last month. In a tit-for-tat move, a similar motion was brought against the deputy chairman senate, who belongs to an opposition faction, by the government.
Both individuals succeeded in retaining their respective positions, as the motions against them failed to get the required number of votes.
“I am thankful to both treasury and opposition benches for voting for me,” Sanjrani said after surviving the no-trust vote. “This is not anyone’s victory or defeat … this matter should end here now.”
Government senators and their allied parties congratulated the chairman on his victory by thumping desks. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was supporting the senate chairman along with its allied groups, though their total number is only 36 in the House of 104 members.
“All the senators have voted according to their conscience and we congratulate them for putting their share in the defeat of the corrupt leaders,” PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan said, applauding the opposition senators who voted for 
Criticizing the top opposition leaders belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), he said that they had joined forces to “save the riches they have plundered,” adding this also explained why their own party members had not supported the no-confidence move against chairman Senate.
“They are the unsung heroes who voted in favor of Sadiq Sanjrani,” Khan said.
Just hours before the final result, the resolution to move a no-confidence vote against Sanjrani was passed by opposition senators, with 64 votes in its favor. The opposition only required 53 votes out of its 64 members present in the House to topple the senate chairman, but it fell short of three votes when the result was announced. The final vote count was 50 in favor of the motion, out of which five votes were rejected.
Later, Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala also survived the no-confidence motion against him by government senators. Only 32 votes were cast in favor of the no-confidence motion, though the government required at least 53 to remove 
As per the rules, the vote of no confidence is conducted through secret ballot. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which member of the House has voted for or against a motion.
Apparently stunned by the government’s victory, leaders of the opposition parties, including Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto, convened an emergency meeting of their members in the Parliament House to determine the reason behind their defeat. The opposition parties had not commented on their shocking defeat in the Senate till the filing of this report.