The rift between two major opposition parties – the PML-N and the PPP – over the office of the Senate’s leader of the opposition deepened on Friday when five opposition parties, including the PML-N, agreed to form a separate bloc of 27 opposition senators in the upper house of parliament. They said the parties have also agreed to hand over the leadership of the new bloc to Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, PML-N’s candidate for the position of Senate opposition leader. Late on Friday night, five opposition parties in the Senate – PML-N, JUI-F, PkMAP and BNP-Mengal – announced that they will form a separate opposition bloc in the Senate. Gilani was notified as opposition leader after some smaller opposition parties – including ANP, Jamaat-e-Islami and the BAP – threw their weight behind him. "I will put forth the same point in the CEC meeting [...] we do not want this government to benefit out of any infighting between opposition parties," Bilawal said.

Source: The Express Tribune April 03, 2021 05:03 UTC