Senate opposition leader: MQM’s entrance changes dynamics of the race

Party leaders say they have not yet decided whom to support.

ISLAMABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) decision to join the opposition benches in the Senate has changed the dynamics of the race for Senate opposition leader after the appointment of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri to the position aroused controversy.

The MQM’s announcement has started a new competition between the major parties in the opposition who are now seeking the support of the MQM’s six senators. The MQM appears to have inadvertently fed the frenzy after its leaders said that they have not yet decided whom to support for Senate opposition leader, while making it clear that the party does not seek the office for itself.

“We have not decided whom we would support in Senate,” Senator Tahir Mashhadi of the MQM told The Express Tribune.

Haideri had earlier been appointed the opposition leader after his predecessor Wasim Sajjad’s party – the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) – joined the ruling coalition with the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Earlier, 25 opposition senators had submitted an application nominating the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar the opposition leader on May 14. However, the JUI-F, with its ten members, garnered the support of the 11 other senators and then persuaded five independent senators from the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to leave the treasury and join the opposition so that they could support Haideri’s nomination.

The JUI-F’s manoeuvring aroused heated debate within the opposition benches of the upper house of Parliament. Senate Chairman Farooq Naek of the PPP, who is responsible for making the appointment, said that he would make a final decision on the matter by July 6, a deadline that has now been missed.

Naek was unable to act in his capacity as Senate chairman last week since he was serving as Acting President while President Asif Ali Zardari was on a trip to the United Kingdom.

“We are waiting for the ruling to make new strategy on the issue,” said Senator Khurshid Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who also added that his party will continue to back the PML-N’s Dar. The PML-N itself, meanwhile, feels that the support of MQM’s six senators would strengthen its bargaining position in case Naek rules against Dar’s nomination. The PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is already the opposition leader in the lower house of Parliament.

Senator Pervaiz Rashid of the PML-N dodged questions about whether or not the party had been able to secure the MQM’s support but pointed out that both parties have jointly requisitioned a Senate session.

The request was submitted on July 7. The government is legally bound to call a session within two weeks of such a request.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2011.