SO finally, PNCR-1G’s shadow  Labour Minister Basil William’s no confidence motion, tabled against PPP/C’s Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir, was  decided on in the House, after a  rather lengthy debate. As was expected the government side of the House roundly defeated the motion by a 34-20 majority. Maybe the Opposition will now cease their incessant clamourings.

But, there are some disturbing observations to be made as to the conduct of the opposition benches in this just concluded exercise. Just how did their Chief Whip marshall his troops for this vote?
There is a total of 65 MPs, apportioned as follows: PPP/C-36; PNCR-1G 22; AFC-5; TUF-1; and GAP/ROAR-1. Given that the motion had been tabled by the PNCR-1G, it was evident that it had the unanimous approval and support of the entire parliamentary opposition. So imagine my utter consternation at the final vote figures representative of the opposition benches of only 20 votes! Were there abstentions? Did all the opposition members of the House attend Parliament for that critical session? Were they informed of this important sitting?
It is obvious from the stats, that at least two PNCR-1G and the remainder of the Parliamentary Opposition did not cast their votes. Can the PNCR-1G Chief Whip especially be asked for an explanation?
This is indeed shocking and very embarrassing for an opposition that wants to be in government. Heavens! How can they aspire to such lofty heights, when they did not even have the votes to duel successfully on a parliamentary motion? They did not seem to have even known their numbers!
The bottom line is that this incident exposed the division that exists in the opposition.