As the race for clinching the slot of Opposition Leader in the Senate gains momentum, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has asked the Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek to invoke Article 63-A of the Constitution to disqualify, on grounds of defection, the PML-Q Likeminded senators if they supported Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Ishaq Dar.
In a letter written to Naek, JUI-F parliamentary leader in the Senate Abdul Ghafoor has stated that JUI-F is the single largest opposition party in the upper house of the parliament after PML-Q joined the government. He has said that PML-N has only seven seats in Senate while JUI-F has 13. Being the largest party, it is JUI-F’s right to field the ‘sure candidate’.
Haideri has argued that without PML-Q Likeminded senators’ support, PML-N’s Ishaq Dar cannot win majority from the opposition benches. But, he added, PML-Q senators would surely be defecting if they supported Dar.
It is interesting to note that the parent PML-Q is silent on the support pledged by the Likeminded for Dar and it is JUI-F that has decided to seek invocation of the Article 63-A of the Constitution.