After having secured the low-key post of deputy chairman Senate, this time around PPP is set to upset its onetime Senate election-specific ally - PTI - through appointment of opposition leader in Senate with the support of 35 members. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari who surprised the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) by electing chairman and deputy chairman Senate with the support of PTI and other opposition lawmakers, is now set to turn the tables on the PTI.
The PPP leadership has nominated Senator Sherry Rehman as its candidate for the coveted slot of opposition leader in Senate. Sherry will be the first woman opposition leader of the Upper House if elected. The PPP apart from its 20 senators also enjoys support of eight senators from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), besides one senator each from Balochistan National Party (Mengal) and Awami National Party (ANP). The sources said that the newly elected five Baloch senators have also assured their support to the PPP candidate.
To secure the slot of opposition leader in the Senate, any party needs at least 29 votes out of the total 57 opposition MPs, which the PPP has already managed after the senators elected from FATA threw their weight behind the party. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday announced nomination of Sherry as the party candidate for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate. He expressed hope that Rehman would become the first female opposition leader in Senate, saying, PPP is ready to make history again.
Soon after Rehman's nomination, PPP delegation comprising Opposition Leader in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah, newly elected Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala and others met FATA senators to get their support.
Talking to Business Recorder, a senator from FATA, who declined to be named, confirmed that all eight senators from FATA are going to support PPP nominee for the slot of opposition leader.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to field Senator Azam Khan Swati as its candidate for the slot but it is quite unlikely for PTI to be in position to get its candidate elected as most of the likeminded parties have already committed their support for PPP. The sources said that PPP also approached PTI which has 13 members in Senate, but it plainly stated that any support from the party this time around is simply "out of question" as it had voted PPP candidate for deputy chairman Senate slot.
Comments
Comments are closed.