Opposition deliberates over new Senate chairman

PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq and NP’s Hasil Bizenjo are key candidates to replace Sadiq Sanjrani

A day after the opposition parties’ Rahbar Committee decided to move a resolution in Senate on July 9 for de-seating its chairman; it started deliberating over the names of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Raja Zafarul Haq and National Party’s (NP) Hasil Bizenjo on Saturday to replace Sadiq Sanjrani.



The committee would announce a joint candidate for the post on July 11 as part of the efforts to step up pressure on the government.

“It has been decided that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Saleem Mandviwalla will continue as Senate deputy chairman,” an Express News report quoted sources as saying.

The Rahbar Committee, which includes representatives of nine opposition parties, in its first meeting on July 5, chose Akram Khan Durrani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) as its convener for two months.

The committee agreed the Senate chairman should be removed and decided to submit a resolution against him on July 9.

It was decided on Friday the opposition parties would observe the anniversary of the 2018 general elections on July 25 as a ‘black day’ and stage protest rallies on a provincial level.



The committee said it would write a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asking it to withdraw its notification wherein it had decided to deploy the army both inside and outside polling stations during elections in the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas.

The opposition parties also asked their members to resign from the parliamentary committee formed to probe into the allegations of rigging in the 2018 general elections.