ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to nominate Sadiq Sanjrani as its candidate for the Chairman Senate.
This was confirmed by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz. “Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced Sadiq Sanjrani for Senate Chairmanship,” he said.
In a tweet, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal said that he was thankful to the PM for nominating a Balochistan representative for the Senate chairman slot.
Prime Minister Ìmrañ Khan has announced Sadiq Sanjrani for Senate Chairmanship.
— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) March 4, 2021
After completion of the Senate polls, the election for the key offices of chairman and deputy chairman of the Upper House will be held on March 1 after the completion of the incumbent’s tenure of three years.
The opposition parties retained their majority in the Senate and are now hopeful of getting the top offices of chairman and deputy chairman. The opposition has 53 while the ruling alliance has 47 members in the 100-member new Senate.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has not formally announced its candidates for the two offices. However, several leaders have hinted that Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani would be the joint candidate for the office of Senate chairman.
Gilani secured an upset after he won the Senate seat from Islamabad defeating the PTI’s Hafeez Shaikh. He secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 while seven votes were rejected which made the difference in the election result.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are set to deliberate over the for the election of chairman and deputy chairman of the.
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz are expected to meet and discuss the issue and member parties of the opposition will be taken into confidence over the matter.
The leaders of two major parties of the opposition will discuss the strategy for the election of chairman and deputy chairman.
The opposition parties are also yet to decide the next opposition leader in the Senate as incumbent opposition leader Raja Zafarul Haq who is among the retiring senator did not contest the election.
The PML_N is no longer the largest opposition party in the house and cannot have a claim on the position of the opposition leader. If the PDM decided to nominate Gilani as the candidate for the Senate chairman’s office, then the PML-N or Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) could demand nomination of their candidates for the offices of deputy chairman and opposition leader.
The decision to nominate Sanjrani for the post of Chairman Senate will get the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) which is now the fourth largest party in the Senate and second largest after the PTI in the ruling alliance.
