ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz has written to Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani to allocate separate seats to the treasury and the opposition members in the Senate, regretting that the current seating arrangement has “disrupted the established order by intermingling treasury members with the opposition” in the upper house of parliament.

“As the leader of the opposition, I would like to bring to your attention an urgent matter relating to a peculiar seating arrangement that has been put in place on the opposition benches. The constitutional scheme clearly defines the clarity that should exist between the treasury and the opposition benches with their respective roles,” reads the letter dated 11 September that surfaced on Friday.

“Regrettably, the current seating arrangement has disrupted the established order by intermingling the treasury members with the opposition,” Faraz stated in the letter. “Furthermore, our members, despite being the largest party in the opposition, have been relegated to the back rows, with smaller parties, including one-member parties, taking precedence,” Faraz added.

This imbalance not only undermines the opposition’s role but also creates confusion and contradicts the essence of the opposition benches in a parliamentary democracy, he stated in the letter. “In light of the above, we demand that treasury members sit on the treasury side and the declared opposition parties on the opposition side in accordance with the global democratic values and traditions of the august house. We urgently request your intervention in restoring the true status of the opposition benches for the smooth functioning of the house,” the letter concluded.

It merits a mention here that in the present sitting arrangement in the house, some treasury senators share the same side of the aisle where the opposition members sit. These senators include four treasury members from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), a political party known for being closely linked to the security establishment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024