Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is all set to replace Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Leader of the Opposition in Senate Sherry Rehman after the party refused to extend support to its nominee Shahbaz Sharif who is contesting election against Imran Khan for the slot of prime minister.
In an informal chat with a group of reporters, PML-N Central Secretary Information Mushahidullah Khan said that the coveted slot of opposition leader in Senate will definitely go to the party which has majority seats in the Upper House of the Parliament.
The PPP which has a total of 20 senators in the 104-member House is currently occupying the position of opposition leader along with the support of smaller parties in wake of March 2018 Senate elections in which opposition parties outclassed the then ruling PML-N from bringing its own chairman.
After the Senate elections, the PPP has emerged as the largest seat winning party among the opposition parties and together with the support of FATA senators and some smaller parties, it managed to install Sherry Rehman as opposition leader.
With the change of government in the centre following PML-N's defeat in July 25 general elections, it is now set to shift on opposition benches, automatically qualifying to occupy the coveted slot opposition leader in Senate as the party has majority seats of 33.
"If PPP is not ready to support our candidate Shahbaz Sharif for premiership, we will definitely use other options, as we are now a majority party on the opposition benches in Senate and it is our right to bring our own opposition leader," said a senior PML-N leader on condition of anonymity.
Considering the post-election political scenario, the opposition parties include the PML-N, PPP, National Party (NP), Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).
The treasury side comprises the PTI, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional being part of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which have presence in the Senate. Its other partners including the PML-Q and Awami Muslim League (AML) of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed have no representation whatsoever in the Upper House.
Of the opposition parties, the PML-N has 33 senators, the PPP has 20, ANP has 1, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has 4 senators, NP has 5, PkMAP has 3 members and Jamaat-e-Islami has two senators. Their number comes to 68 without including 17 independent senators.
Of the coalition partners, the PTI has 12 senators, MQM-P has 5 members, and PML-F and BNP-M has one senator each. All of them are only 19 senators. Then, there are 17 independent senators elected from the tribal areas and Balochistan. If they are counted in favor of the next government, its tally climbs to 36.
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