PPP singles out Presiding Officer for senate loss

"Gillani has won the election," the PPP chairman said, "He has become Chairman Senate," he added, stressing that the rejected seven votes were legal. "Everybody saw what happened in the senate today, four cameras were discovered. Calling the Presiding Officer "biased", Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he is allied with the government and is anti PPP. "If there was a conspiracy then it was hatched by the Presiding Officer and the allies," he said, citing the instructions flyer posted on the podium. "We must go to the courts as quickly as possible and fix this issue as soon as possible," he stated. "I am very optimistic about the courts giving ruling as per their own verdicts. This is an open and shut case," the PPP told the members of the press. He also said the decision to challenge the verdict was unanimous while other decisions will be taken by the PDM. 

When asked about establishment's neutrality, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that all institutions in the country are not neutral right now. "But this is what our struggle is for. No one will handle over neutrality on a plate, we will have to struggle for it. But there has been some change," he remarked, quoting the example of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In reply to a question about Ghafoor Haideri's win, Yousuf Raza Gillani said that the Presiding Officer could not have rejected the votes. "The Secretary told Sherry Rehman that the instructions have stated that the box can be stamped anywhere inside the box. This is a stolen victory. This is temporary for them. As for Deputy Chairman, people were demoralised," he said. Laughing in reply to a question, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that at the time when moral was down, the government had been challenged inside the parliament. "We have faced them off and against all your expectations, we won, which was very important for a democratic political worker," he stated. 

Gillani and Bilawal then paid rich tribute to PDM and its leaders, thanking them for their support and saying that they had defeated the Prime Minister in his own constituency. "The National Assembly is the Premier's," the PPP chairman said.