Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday challenged the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) move to nominate Senator Sherry Rehman for the opposition leader’s slot in the Upper House of parliament.

In a letter to incumbent Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati said that the list of members supporting Senator Sherry Rehman for the slot of opposition leader contravened the rules and procedures of the house.

Last week, Senator Rehman had submitted her nomination papers, supported by 33 members of Senate, to Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. She had said that with the exception of PTI, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), members of all other opposition parties as well as the independents had endorsed her nomination as the new leader of the opposition in the Senate.

Senator Swati argued that the independents should first declare whether they wish to be part of the treasury or opposition benches, following which they should be allowed to support a candidate for the leader of the opposition.

The PTI had previously demanded the PPP to withdraw Senator Rehman’s name from the running.

The party has accelerated its efforts to thwart the PPP move and met with representatives of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), senators from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) as well as the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to seek their support.

Talking to a private television channel, Senator Swati – himself a nominee for the seat – claimed that the party enjoys support of the majority of opposition members.

Sources, however, claim that the party has so far been unable to get the number of votes required to succeed.

Published in Daily Times, March 20^th 2018.