PPP nominates Gillani as candidate for Senate chairmanship

KARACHI: Enjoying a majority so far in Senate, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Thursday nominated its senior leader Yusuf Raza Gillani as its candidate for the post of Senate chairman.

The party made the announcement in a brief statement for the upcoming election of the Senate chairman which is expected to be held next week. Mr Gillani was elected a senator last month in a by-election held on six vacant seats of the upper house of parliament.

After the April 2 election on 19 seats of the Senate, the PPP with its 24 senators now forms one-fourth of the total strength in the house.

However, this hold will not remain for long, as elections on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 11 seats are yet to be held.

At present, the PTI has 20 members in Senate, followed by the PML-N with 19 lawmakers. The Balochistan Awami Party has four members in the upper house while the MQM-P and Awami National Party have three members each in the house.