Acting Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Jamali Monday accepted the resignation of Leader of the Opposition in Senate, Wasim Sajjad, paving the way for the nomination of the much coveted position of the opposition leader, intense lobbying for which has already started.
Sajjad submitted his resignation with the Chairman when his party, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), joined the PPP-led federal government at the start of this month. Before joining the government, PML-Q, being the largest opposition party in the Senate, had held this office for three years. After the departure of PML-Q from the opposition benches, the JUI-F claims to be the single largest opposition group in the upper house.
However, despite having the biggest numerical strength in the Senate, the chances for the JUI-F nominee to become the opposition leader appear to be minimal as PML-N is well set to grab this position after securing the support of other parliamentary groups particularly of PML-Likeminded, a breakaway faction of the PML-Q. Recently, PML-Likeminded threw its weight behind PML-N when it announced to support Ishaq Dar, the parliamentary leader of PML-N in Senate for the opposition leader slot. PML-N’s Ishaq Dar then submitted an application, endorsed by 25 senators, with the Senate Secretariat for the opposition leader slot. PML-N has only seven members in the house but it has taken the tally to 25 after winning the support of the members belonging to PML Likeminded, Jamaat-e-Islami and National Party. It is to mention here that Nawaz-led party also holds the leader of the opposition slot in the National Assembly.