Though with a razor-thin majority, the Opposition-dominated Upper House of Parliament passed the State Bank Amendment Bill 2021 with the support of ‘elements’ who have come to the rescue of the government in many difficult times.

Interestingly, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani, was among those opposition Senators who had missed the crucial sitting of the Upper House during the passage of the State Bank Amendment Bill 2021.

With some 11 senators not in attendance — some allegedly out of choice, others due to valid reasons such as travel abroad and illness, or COVID-induced quarantine — and a strength of 57 in the house of 104 (currently 99), the Opposition helplessly witnessed what they had termed a “controversial” bill being passed by the Senate on January 28. This transpired because while in the final count, the Treasury and Opposition members in the Senate numbered 43 each — with the Chairman Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani having cast his vote in favour of the Treasury — at the moment of counting the votes, Awami National Party (ANP) Senator, Umar Farooq Kasi, quietly left the house, paving the way for the government to win the count by 43 to 42.

As anticipated, a group of six senators led by Dilawar Khan had played a key role in this turn of events, as two of the group’s senators abstained, while the rest joined hands with the government for the passage of the bill. Soon thereafter, a couple of federal ministers thanked the Pakistan People’s Party and Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani In a taunting way for  facilitating the government with regard to the passage of the bill. However, according to a government source, they were soon silenced by the Prime Minister. Now there is no word on the issue from the government side.

There is also an impression in some quarters that certain power-brokers were pushing for the passage of the bill and the matter had been orchestrated by them in conjunction with the government. Sources contend that those who had abstained from the proceedings on Friday were taking clandestine directions from powers behind-the-scenes.

It was perhaps to erase this perception that Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid, who is considered to be their point man, came up with the statement; “there are 12 to 15 Opposition members in both houses of Parliament who support the government in getting crucial legislation through.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate came under scathing criticism for what they termed his dubious role in the episode, and even the senators of his own party put him on the mat saying that he should have remained in Islamabad because it was well known that the government would table the controversial State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill 2021 in the Senate, as they had to get it passed by the Upper House before the February 2 IMF review meeting for continuation of the $6 billion loan facility and the release of a $1 billion tranche.

PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Kokhar was also critical of the role of Dilawar Khan’s group and suggested that the party should dissociate from the group as these senators had always ditched the Opposition when they needed them most. He added that they knew well the government would most likely bring the crucial bill for approval before the Senate on January 28, as the release of the $1 billion tranche from the IMF loan was directly linked to its passage.

Talking to Bol News at Parliament House a few days later, Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani for his part maintained that the entire exercise of including the State Bank Amendment Bill in the agenda at the eleventh hour, the late intimation of this to the members of the house, and finally, its deceitful passage by the Senate, was contrary to parliamentary norms and practices.

Gillani said that he came to know about the insertion of the bill in the agenda on late Friday night in his hometown Multan, where he was at the time, and it was not possible for him to reach Islamabad on such short notice. And the partisan role of the Chairman Senate, he contended, who had gone an extra mile to ensure the passage of the bill, had raised many eyebrows.

He, however, did not use harsh words against Dilawar Khan and his group’s role in the exercise, but simply said he would take up the matter with them. Gillani also said that when the same bill was passed by the National Assembly, some 13 MNAs were not in attendance, but nobody had raised questions about that, but when it came to the Upper House, everybody was pointing fingers at those absent, ignoring all the underhand tactics adopted by the government for its passage.

Dlawar Khan’s group had played a key role in the election of Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Before that the group used to sit on the Treasury benches. Subsequently, an understanding was clearly reached, whereby they came on to the Opposition benches and facilitated Gillani’s election as leader. In return, Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani awarded this group’s members the chairmanship of five standing committees from the Opposition parties quota.

The group was also instrumental in the elections of Sadiq Sanjrani as Chairman Senate, with some other members from the Opposition parties also voting for him. Inside sources in the Upper House of Parliament disclosed that the group was taking directions from somewhere else.

Following the government’s victory regarding the passage of the bill, during his address in the Senate on January 31, Gillani announced his resignation from the slot of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and said that he had sent his resignation to the party leadership. Party Chairman Bilawal Bhuttto Zardari, however, refused to accept the resignation. Now it is expected, things will return to normal, as they usually have in the past after similar defeats at the hands of the Treasury.

Parliamentary sources informed Bol News that the Opposition parties had, in fact, given a tacit assurance to certain quarters about the passage of the State Bank Amendment Bill 2021 as its passage was crucial for keeping the national economy afloat. They maintain the Opposition parties’ hue and cry over it was just an eyewash — an exercise to appease their electorate.

A senator from one of the major Opposition parties disclosed that they had to give way to the government in regard to the bill, failing which, he declared, the country’s economy would have landed in an extremely difficult situation. The passage of the bill by both houses of Parliament was mandatory for the extension of the IMF loan facility, he stated.

Sources in the Pakistan People’s Party maintained that the party leadership had expressed its displeasure with and censured the party leaders who had openly criticised Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani. And party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asked Gillani to continue working as the leader of the Opposition in the Senate and lauded his services for the party and democracy.

It was not for the first time that despite not having a majority in the Upper House, the Treasury had managed to get crucial legislation through from the Senate. In July 2021 the FATF-related Mutual Legal Assistance (Crimianl Matters Amendment Bill was passed from the Upper House, in  September three more FATF-related bills were passed by the Joint Sitting of Parliament, including the Anti-Terrorism Act Amendment Bill 2020, the Anti-Money Laundering Second Amendment Bill and the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill.

At the time of the no-trust move against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, the Opposition parties had failed to take advantage of their majority in the Upper House of Parliament, and after the defeat of the no-trust motion, they had started a blame game, accusing each other for the failure.

Similarly, during the election for the Chairman Senate, the Opposition parties had failed to get Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani elected to this post, despite having a clear majority in the house. Gillani was jointly fielded as a candidate by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

According to some political observers, the Pakistan People’s Party did not want to see the system derail, and that was why it had always extended tacit support to the government and bailed it out in difficult situations.

Soon after the 2018 general elections, JUI-F Chief Moulana Fazlur Rehman had rejected the election results and asked all the Opposition parties’ MNAs not to take their oaths of their office. The PPP not only opposed the move, but also convinced other Opposition parties to become part of Parliament to keep the system functioning.

And when all the Opposition parties were ready to resign from the National Assembly ahead of the long march, the PPP had once again ditched the Opposition parties’ alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), refused to resign and came up with the proposal to first bring a no-trust move against the government. PPP insiders maintain this owed to the party not wanting to see the system being ruptured, looking only for a peaceful transfer of power from one government to the next government. Resultantly, they would not indulge in any activity which would endanger the system and pave the way for any extra-constitutional intervention.