Gilani Tenders Resignation Amid Criticism For Skipping Crucial Senate Session

Leader of the Opposition in Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was being criticised for not attending the Senate session where the controversial State Bank (Amendment) Bill was passed, has announced that he has submitted his resignation as the opposition leader to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President.

PPP sources say that his resignation has not been accepted by the party leadership.

When the SBP bill was narrowly passed by the Senate on Friday last week, Gilani and eight other opposition members were absent from the session. This had led many to question the opposition, with PPP’s own leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar regretting that Gilani’s absence caused the opposition’s defeat.
While addressing the Senate, Gilani said that he was being accused of assisting the government by some ‘turncoats’.

Backstory
The Senate had approved the State Bank Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021, following a tiebreaker vote by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani amid absence of Leader of the Opposition Yousuf Raza Gilani and some other opposition members last week.

With the passage of the bill, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government got one step closer to resuming the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF executive board is expected to take a decision on the disbursement to Pakistan of about $1 billion tranche on February 2.

The crucial Senate session today on Friday was briefly postponed by the government when several treasury lawmakers, whose votes were necessary for the government to pass the bill, failed to appear at the Senate. Notably, the SBP Amendment Bill had not been added to the agenda until Friday morning.

During the one-hour delay, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman had said that the government should admit defeat rather than postpone the vote; the sentiment was echoed by Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-F (JUI-F) Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.

Ultimately, the bill as presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin passed with 43 votes against it and 43 votes in favor, plus one vote from Sanjrani also in favour.