Caretaker Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi informed the Senate that Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar had endorsed Senator Ishaq Dar as Leader of the House and Senator Saleem Mandviwalla as Chief Whip with status of Minister of State, ARY News reported.
Responding to a point raised by Senator Shahadat Awan during the session on October 30 regarding the status of leaders of the House and Opposition, and the Chief Whip after completion of constitutional tenure of the last government, the minister clarified that as per parliamentary traditions, they would continue to perform their responsibilities.
A notification regarding appointment of Saleem Manviwalla as Chief Whip had also been reissued, he added.
On October 31, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani claimed that he had received consent from Caretaker Prime Minister to “retain Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar as Leader of the House”.
During a special session of Upper House of Parliament, an objection was raised against the use of the title of Leader of the House by Ishaq Dar.
PPP leader Shahadat Awan asked why the PML-N Senator had been labelled as the leader of the house on the agenda even though the elected government did not exist.
Responding to the query, Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said he had received consent from Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar that Ishaq Dar would continue as the leader of the house.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ishaq Dar was appointed as leader of the house in the Senate by the then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Dar was sworn in as a senator after he had returned to the country after a five-year-long ‘self-exile’. Following this, he was sworn in as the new finance minister. The PML-N leader had left the country in 2017 while standing trial in a corruption reference.
