The Bahadurabad faction of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday announced that it will support Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate for the position of the leader of opposition in the Senate.
The announcement was made after a PTI delegation led by Imran Ismail visited MQM’s Bahadurabad office in Karachi.
Addressing a press conference alongside MQM leader Faisal Subzwari, Ismail said the PTI will announce its candidate for the Senate opposition leader tomorrow. However, he said, his party desired that the MQM consents to support their candidate before they leave the Bahaduarabad office.
Speaking on behalf of MQM’s coordination committee, Subzwari said it has been decided that all MQM senators will support the PTI candidate in the race for the post of Senate opposition leader.
Thanking the PTI delegation for their visit, Subzwari said his party had supported Sadiq Sanjrani, an independent senator from Balochistan, for the post of Senate chairman but decided not to support PPP’s nominee for the deputy chairman’s office because the PPP has “ruined” the Sindh province with its alleged corruption and incompetence in the last decade.
He said although the MQM does not question the credentials of PPP nominee Sherry Rehman to be elected the Senate opposition leader, his party cannot vote for her because of her association with the PPP.
“The people of this province, especially urban Sindh, are resentful of the PPP,” Subzwari said.
The Senate elects the chairman, deputy chairman, leader of the house and leader of the opposition every three years after elections for half of its members are held. While the chairman and deputy chairman were elected on Monday, elections for the leader of the house and opposition are yet to take place.
The leader of the opposition is chosen by a majority vote of members of the opposition.
