Smart move: PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan to remain Senate opposition leader

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided that Aitzaz Ahsan would continue to lead the opposition groups as opposition leader in the Senate while Senator Saeed Ghani would be the party’s parliamentary leader in the upper house. This was revealed by Ghani while talking to The Express Tribune on Wednesday, when 21 of the 40 PPP senators retired.

Though the party has lost significantly in terms of number, it is still the largest party in the Senate. The PPP had secured eight seats in the March 5 polls: seven from Sindh and one from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

After a senator who was elected independently from Balochistan joined the party, its strength was increased to 28.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will have 26 seats in the 104-member house. The delayed approach and failure to muster support of smaller parties has already cost the ruling party key offices of Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

The PPP’s timely announcement that Ahsan would remain the opposition leader in the upper house has left little room for other parties to manoeuvre. Therefore, the move is likely to be accepted by the smaller opposition groups without much remonstrance.

According to Senate rules, the chairman of the upper house appoints the opposition leader if he feels that the candidate for the slot enjoys support of the majority of the members sitting on the opposition benches.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2015.