PML-N clinches ‘Opposition Leader’ slot in Senate from PPP

ISLAMABAD: PML-N has clinched the key post of Leader of the Opposition in Senate from Pakistan Peoples’ Party apparently after the latter’s refusal to vote for Shehbaz Sharif as joint opposition candidate for the prime minister earlier this month.

The PML-N and other opposition parties has nominated Senator Raja Zafarul Haq for the slot de-seating Senator Sherry Rehman.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani issued the notification Sunday notifying PTI Senator Shibli Faraz as the Leader of the House and Raja Zafarul Haq as Leader of the Opposition.

Later, PPP leader congratulated both Faraz and Raja Zafarul Haq over the appointment. 

She tweeted: "Congratulations to the new Leader of the House in the Senate, @shiblifaraz and the new Leader of Opposition Raja Zafrul Haq. I hope they both remember the best service to democracy lies in serving public interests via legislation, debate, good governance and parliamentary probity".

The new session of the House will commence on Monday. The legislature is poised for new alignments following the formation of PTI-led government.

Just before Eidul Azha, the PML-N moved an application to the Senate Chairman for notifying Senator Raja Zafarul Haq as the opposition leader.

The PPP and other like-minded parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supported Sanjrani’s election as Chairman Senate in March. The PPP also got elected its own Senator Saleem Mandviwala as the deputy chairman.

A letter sent to the Senate Secretariat, through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, states that Prime Minister Imran has appointed Senator Shibli Faraz to represent the government in the upper house of Parliament.

As per the Rule 2(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, "the Leader of the House shall be the prime minister or a member appointed by him to represent the government and to regulate the government business in the Senate when the prime minister is not sitting in the House".

“Obviously, with the opposition commanding majority in the House, the task of new Leader of the House will be tricky,” parliamentary sources maintained.

Senator Shibli Faraz, a former banker, has been a member of the Senate since 2015. He was elected from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

His uncle Barrister Syed Masood Kausar has served as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and his father late Ahmad Faraz was one of country's leading poets.

The PTI legislator has been serving as the chairman of committees on circular debt and commerce and textile.