Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has refused to accept the resignation of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani from the post of Leader of the Opposition in Senate and said Gillani’s services for democracy are a shining example for democrats today, sources confirmed it to Bol News on Monday.
The PPP chairman appreciated Gillani’s statement on the floor of the Senate and said the PPP was the only political party whose representatives felt accountable to the people.
“Gilani has struggled for democracy and endured incarceration for serving the people,” sources quoted Bilawal as saying this.
The PPP chairman regretted the blatantly partisan role played by chairman senate in passing the bill.
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He observed that the senate chairman had once again tainted his office and set a most unfortunate precedent.
Earlier on Monday, Opposition Leader in Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani said that he has sent his resignation from the post as he is being wrongly accused of helping the government in passing the State Bank Amendment Act 2021.
The Senate on Friday passed the State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill with a majority of only one vote. The bill presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin faced stiff resistance from the members belonging to the opposition benches. But amid the ruckus, the amendment bill was passed with 44 members in favor and 43 against.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, earlier, in his media talk appreciated the role of the former prime minister in helping the government pass the bill from the house where the treasury benches lacked a majority.
The former prime minister said that the state bank bill was not referred to any Senate committee. “I believe that the role of Chairman and Speaker of the National Assembly is the custodian of the house, not the government,” he said. “You (Senate Chairman) facilitated the government, not opposition by adjourning the session.”
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It has been the first time in the history of Pakistan that a Senate Chairman had to vote after a tie, as a custodian of the house you should have protected the rights of both sides of the aisles, he said.
Senator Gilani said that he is not astonished by the harsh words of his opponents but by the silence of his well-wishers. “The ministers who are turned coats when they say I helped the government. The credit should be given to you (Senate Chairman) not me,” he said. “This is rigging. It should not happen.”
