Govt to field Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi for deputy chairman slot

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led federal government has decided to field Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi for the deputy chairman slot, ARY News reported.

The announcement was made by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz in a tweet.

Prime Minister Imran khan has nominated Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi for Deputy Chairman Slot giving representation to Ex FATA PTI member.

— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) March 11, 2021

The names of Faisal Javed Khan, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mirza Mohammad Afridi were under consideration for the slot of deputy chairman in the Senate, out of which Afridi was picked by the premier.

The Senate will elect a new chairman and the deputy chairman of the house tomorrow. The PTI-led federal government has named BAP’s Sadiq Sanjrani as a candidate for the chairmanship of the Senate, while Mirza Afridi for the deputy chairman slot.

Alliance of the opposition parties, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has already named former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Ghafoor Haideri for the chairman and the deputy chairman senate slots respectively.

Read more: PM Imran hosts lunch for PTI, allied parties’ senators

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan hosted a luncheon for the senators hailing from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the allied parties ahead of the election of the chairman and deputy chairman Senate.

The meeting will mull over to name the candidate for the deputy chairman Senate slot.

On Wednesday, expressing their full confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the allied parties of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had authorized him to nominate a candidate for Senate deputy chairman’s office.

Read more: PPP tasks senators to woo govt allies for Gillani’s win

The development came during a meeting of the PTI’s allied parties chaired by the prime minister.

Talking to ARY News, on the condition of anonymity, a participant of the meeting had said that the allied parties assured the prime minister that they will support the candidate in the upper house whoever is nominated by the premier for the slot.

During the meeting, all the allied parties had reposed their full confidence in the leadership of PM Imran Khan, he added.