Gilani notified as Senate opposition leader

PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani was declared as leader of the opposition in the upper house of parliament on Friday, according to a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.

Gilani, a former prime minister, had recently been elected to the Senate after a highly contentious poll, in which he defeated the ruling PTI’s candidate, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

He had subsequently contested the election for the Senate chairman’s post as a candidate of the 10-party opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which he lost to the PTI-backed Sanjrani after seven of his votes were rejected by the presiding officer.

The opposition had immediately challenged the result of the election but were overruled by the presiding officer who said the votes had been rejected because they were not stamped correctly.

Later, the Islamabad High Court also threw out a petition by Gilani that challenged results of the Senate chairman election, noting that proceedings of the upper house of parliament were “immune from the interference” of the high court.

Earlier on Friday, Gilani, along with Senator Sherry Rehman, had reached the Parliament House and met Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, to whom the nomination papers were submitted.

Rehman said that the application had been filed with signatures from a total of 30 senators – 21 from the PPP, two from the Awami National Party, one from the Jamaat-i-Islami, two from members belonging to Fata and four from the independent group of Dilawar Khan.

PPP sources identified Senators Hidayatullah Khan, Hilal-ur-Rehman, Mushtaq Ahmed and Nawabzada Arbab Umar Farooq as some of the names who had signed the agreement.

Rehman rubbished claims that the nomination signified the “funeral” of the PDM, adding that “this is the right of the PPP, we have 21 members.”

PML-N, PPP at odds

The issue of the Senate opposition leader has created disagreements in the ranks of the opposition alliance with both the PML-N and PPP publicly claiming their right to the key office.

The PML-N maintains that the decision that the opposition leader in the Senate would be from the PML-N had been taken by a PDM committee and it had nothing to do with the outcome of the elections of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

The PPP, meanwhile, admits that it had previously agreed to giving the office of the opposition leader to the PML-N in return for nomination of Gilani for the office of Senate chairman. But the situation changed after Gilani’s defeat, it adds.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari insists the PPP has a right to nominate the leader of the opposition since it is the political party, among the opposition, which enjoys a majority in the Senate.

According to a Dawn report published today, behind-the-scenes negotiations were under way in the PDM to resolve differences between the PPP and PML-N on the issue of the new opposition leader in the upper house of parliament.

The deadline for Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to nominate someone to the post will expire on Saturday.

Sources in the two parties told Dawn that both the parties were busy in finding a middle path to settle the dispute amicably.

On Thursday, PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman talked to Bilawal. Although the official handout issued by the PPP said the two leaders “discussed the prevailing political situation”, the sources said the opposition leader’s issue had also come under discussion between the two leaders.

According to the sources, the PML-N has already submitted an application to the Senate Secretariat, nominating Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar as the opposition leader.

The nomination of Tarar carries signatures of 17 PML-N members whereas the five senators of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) and two members each of the National Party (NP) and the Pakhtun­khwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) had also assured their support in line with the decision taken by the PDM.