Opposition parties in the Upper House of parliament are still indecisive to bring a consensus opposition leader in the House, with the JUI-F claiming to be the largest opposition party with 13 members in the House. The JUI-F could not reach an understanding with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), as the latter has not given an explicit reply to the JUI-F on the issue.
Both the parties have been in contact with each other on the subject, however, nothing substantial has been achieved so far, sources in both parties told Pakistan Today on Saturday.
The post fell vacant when Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) joined the PPP-led federal government at the beginning of this month. Earlier, Senator Waseem Sajjad of the PML-Q was the opposition leader in the House.
Senator Talha Mahmood of the JUI-F said being the largest opposition party in the Senate, the JUI-F had a democratic right to bring its member as the opposition leader. He tipped Abdul Ghafoor Haideri as the next leader of the opposition in the Senate.
A source in the PML-N said although the party had not made any demand to the JUI-F vis-à-vis the opposition leader slot, a final decision in this regard would be taken in due course of time.
He confirmed that both parties were in contact for consultations on naming the opposition leader, adding that nothing was substantial so far.
The source, however, said the PML-N wanted a consensus opposition leader brought to lead the combined opposition.
The JUI-F claims to have the support of 13 senators in the House, with 10 elected on party ticket and three elected from FATA as independent candidates.
The total strength of other opposition parties, including the PML-N, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakhtunkhwa Awami Milli Party and National Party also stands at 13. The single vote of PPP-Sherpao is crucial, as the party has so far not taken a decision over the matter.
