PTI and PPP discuss Senate panels, PML-N sidelined
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) discussed allocation of the Senate’s standing commitees, sidelining a powerful 27-member group of opposition senators who refuse to accept PPP’S Yousuf Raza Gillani as leader of the opposition and seek a separate identity.
The meeting between Dr Shahzad Waseem of the PTI’S leader of the house in the Senate, and Gillani, leader of the opposition, was called to work out a formula for allocation of standing commitees. It was atended, among others, by federal ministers Syed Shibli Faraz and Azam Swati, and PPP’S parliamentary leader in the upper house, Sherry Rehman.
Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz ( PML-N) leaders said Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had assured the 27-member opposition group, led by Azam Nazir Tarar, that they would be consulted in the process for distribution of seats.
They said the PML-N was informed that a meeting would be held in the chairman’s chambers. Since Senator Tarar was busy in Lahore in connection with a court hearing, the party deputed Senators Irfan Siddiqui and Musaddiq Malik to atend the meeting.
But the two senators were kept waiting for two hours and finally called by the chairman’s office. But Sanjrani’s staff told them that the meeting was going on in another room.
Senator Irfan Siddiqui made it clear that the government and the “so-called opposition leader” [Gillani] would not be allowed to bulldoze the formation of standing commitees.
“We will not tolerate ‘deals’ in formation of standing commitees and will put up resistance if our 27-member group is ignored in the process,” the senator warned.
Sherry Rehman said since it was an “institutional meeting” between the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition, there was no room for any third party in it.
She made it clear that nobody could rob the PML-N of its “righful share” in the commitees. “We will not only give their share in accordance with the ratio, but will also try to accommodate their preferences.”