Caretaker govt ‘endorses’ Ishaq Dar as leader of house in Senate

• Dar appointed as leader of the house by ex-PM Shehbaz Sharif. 
• "Neutral candidate should be appointed as leader of the house." 
• Senators reappointed after completion of constitutional tenure. 

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has endorsed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar as leader of the house, sources told Geo News on Sunday.

Dar was appointed to the post by then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in October 2022 a month after he returned to Pakistan ending nearly five years of self-imposed exile in London.

According to the sources, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has raised objections to the nomination of the PML-N’s senator for the key post in the upper house of parliament.

The PPP senators believed that a neutral candidate should be appointed as the leader of the house since Shehbaz Sharif is no longer the prime minister of the country, they added.

The development came amid the PPP accusations that the caretaker setup is giving preferential treatment to former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N ahead of the February 8, 2024 general elections.

The insiders said PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla has also been appointed as the chief whip in the upper house of parliament with the status of state minister.

Caretaker Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi last week informed the Senate that the caretaker PM had endorsed the nomination of Senator Dar as leader of the house and Senator Saleem Mandviwalla as chief whip.

Responding to a point raised regarding the status of leaders of the house and opposition, and the chief whip after the completion of the constitutional tenure of the last government, the minister had clarified that as per parliamentary traditions, they would continue to perform their responsibilities.