Ruling Coalition Struggles to Gather Votes for Constitutional Amendment
Government short by 10 votes, seeks backing from opposition factions
Islamabad – (Mudassar Iqbal): The ruling coalition is grappling with a major obstacle in securing enough votes in the Senate for a proposed constitutional amendment. While 64 votes are needed to pass the amendment, the government has only gathered 54 so far. The coalition, consisting of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), is relying heavily on support from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) (JUI-F) and independent senators to bridge this gap.
The breakdown of the government coalition in the Senate includes 24 PPP senators, 19 from PML-N, 4 from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and 3 from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), alongside 2 independent senators, adding up to 54 votes. Despite this, there remains a gap of 10 votes to meet the required 64.
To bridge this shortfall, the government needs backing from opposition senators. The potential support could come from 5 JUI-F senators, 3 from the Awami National Party (ANP), and one each from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), National Party, and Balochistan National Party (BNP).
On the opposition side, there are 17 senators from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with one each from the Sunni Ittehad Council, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), and an independent senator. Securing enough support from opposition factions, particularly from JUI-F and ANP, remains crucial for the amendment’s success.
Follow us on our social media platforms here: Twitter WHATSAPP CHANNEL FACEBOOK PAGE
