Sherry Rehman nominated by PPP for Senate opposition leader

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has nominated Senator Sherry Rehman for the post of Senate opposition leader, the party's Chairman Bilawal Bhutto confirmed on Wednesday. 

Bilawal further said the PPP will be making history by nominating the first woman to lead the opposition and expressed hope for her victory. 

However, The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to bring forth its own candidate slot and will contest the slot after consulting likeminded opposition members as the party is opposed to the nomination. 

Sources said six of eight independent senators from the tribal areas are supporting the PPP. 

PPP, which has 20 seats in the Senate, will need the support of other opposition parties to have Rehman appointed. 

Opposition parties in the Senate did come together to get Sadiq Sanjrani elected chairman and Saleem Mandviwalla deputy chairman earlier this week.

A senior figure in the PPP, Rehman served as the editor of Herald for over a decade before making a foray into politics. She was elected to the national assembly in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008, and served as the federal minister for information and broadcasting. 

She has also served as a senator since 2015 and was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US (2011-13).