JUI(F) leader Abdul Ghafoor Haideri no doubt represents the largest single opposition party in the Senate enjoying the support of 10 senators. What remains questionable is whether he represents the majority of the 36 senators occupying the opposition seats in the House. .According to the media briefing provided by a Senate official, Haideri won the election for the leader of the opposition with 19 votes while PML(N)’s Ishaq Dar could only manage to get 15. On Monday, JUI(F) somehow or other managed to persuade five independent senators from Fata sitting on treasury benches to join the opposition. What made the difference was the decision by the Senate Chairman to accept them as opposition members while refusing to allow the nine dissenters of the PML(Q) to cast their votes. It was maintained that the second decision was taken after PML(Q) Chief Shujaat Hussain wrote to the Senate Chairman not to allow the dissenters to cast their votes as with the PML(Q) joining the government they were no more a part of the opposition.
On May 14, a group of 25 opposition senators belonging to different parties submitted an application to the Senate Chairman nominating PML(N)’s Ishaq Dar as opposition leader, a move presumably not liked by the government which made the Senate Chairman take the decisions that led to Haideri’s election. The support sought from the PML(Q) turncoats however caused split in the ranks of the opposition and Ch Nisar’s attempts to forge a joint opposition strategy during the budget failed. The split further widened during the Senate session on Monday when those supporting Ishaq Dar continued to heckle Haideri during his speech. In a tit for tat reply, Haideri castigated the PML(N) as another pro-US party.
Whether the PML(Q) dissenters who insist on occupying the opposition benches could have been debarred from voting is for the courts to decide where the matter is now likely to land up. The split in the opposition ranks in the Senate is however a bad omen for the system as it weakens the opposition which is required to keep watch over the government’s performance. Both the government and opposition have done their bit to promote the division.