In a first, a woman leads opposition in the Senate

Sherry Rehman has become the first woman in the history of Pakistan to assume the office of the leader of the opposition in the Senate.With support of 34 members from opposition benches, Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate follows in the footsteps of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was the first woman to serve as opposition leader in the National Assembly.This has also given the PPP the distinction of nominating the first woman prime minister, the first women leaders of the opposition in both houses of parliament, and the first female speaker of the National Assembly.Born in Karachi on December 21, 1960, journalist-turned-politician Rehman came to parliament as an member of National Assembly in 2002 and then in 2008 on women’s reserved seats.During the PPP’s 2008-13 stint in power, she served as minister for health and information.She was later appointed ambassador to the United States.Along with her notification, the Senate Secretariat has also notified seat allocations for independent members of Senate.Of the total 31 independents, only 17 have opted to sit on the treasury benches.“I would like to thank PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto, co-chairman Asif Zardari, and party peers on this occasion. Congratulations to everyone! I would also like to thank [senators from tribal areas], the Awami National Party and others who pledged support. The PPP wants everyone to work in unison to ensure the Senate continues to deliver,” Rehman shared in a video message.Among these are 15 senators who were originally Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz candidates for March 3 elections but elected as independents due to party ticket issue after the Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from heading any political party.Besides these 15, only two independents from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) – Senators Mirza Afridi and Shamim Afridi – applied to the Senate chairman to allocate them seats on treasury benches.The other 11 senators – six from Fata and five from Baluchistan – have opted to sit on the opposition benches.In the new composition, the opposition has a thin majority of one member in the 104-member upper house.Of these 52 members, 20 belong to PPP, 12 to Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, 11 independents, five to Muttahida Qaumi Movement, two to Jamaat-e-Islami, and one each to Awami National Party and the Baluchistan National Party – Mengal. An independent from Baluchistan, Sadiq Sanjrani was elected as Senate chairman on March 12 with the support of the opposition parties.The chairman can only vote to break a tie.Another independent – former finance minister Ishaq Dar – has not yet taken oath.In the new allocation of seats on the treasury and opposition benches, though the opposition outnumbers the treasury, it is divided into two groups, one led by PPP and the other by PTI.