PML-N, JUI-F leaders may convene for strategy to bring own Senate Opposition leader

LAHORE: Two key leaders of the PML-N and the JUI-F have hinted at the anti-government coalition, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), convening a meeting to formulate a strategy to bring their own Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

The suggestion came during a Wednesday meeting between PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and JUI-F Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri to discuss the situation following the selection of PPP's Yousaf Raza Gillani as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

Both unanimously decided not to accept Gillani as the Senate's new Opposition leader, agreeing that all PDM parties were disappointed with the PPP's attitude.

A consultation on the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate would soon be held with other parties in the PDM, Abbasi said, while the JUI-F leader opined that the PPP had "disappointed everyone" by seeking the Balochistan Awami Party's (BAP) support.

The two leaders agreed during the meeting that the PDM parties would have to come up with a strategy to bring in their own Leader of the Opposition, for which a future summit should be convened.

Abbasi — who is also the PDM's secretary-general — also inquired about JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman's health from Maulana Haideri.