ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday appointed a senior member of the ruling party Senator Dr Shahzad Waseem as Leader of the House in the Senate only a day before the scheduled budget session of the Upper House of the Parliament.

“Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani through a letter has received the nomination of Senator Shahzad as leader of the House from PM and a formal notification of his appointment will be issued soon,” said Ramzan Sajid, director (media) of the Senate.

He further said that Chairman Senate will issue notification of his appointment.

PTI Senator Shahzad Waseem has served the ruling party in various positions and was elected to the Senate in March 2018 from Punjab on a seat vacated by incumbent Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar.

He has served as Adviser to the Chairman PTI Imran Khan on Diplomatic Relations and was handling external publicity and international relations of the party.

Presently, Senator Shahzad is a member of the Senate Standing Committees on foreign affairs, interior, Kashmir affairs, information technology, and housing & works

On April 27, Prime Minister Imran Khan had appointed Leader of the House in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz as the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting. However, PM made no new nomination of Leader of the House and Senator Shibili held this position till Senator Shahzad was chosen as his successor.

The position of leader of the House in the Senate is considered very dominant as he or she represents the Prime Minister and the government in the Upper House of the Parliament.

According to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, the Leader of the House means the Prime Minister or a member appointed by him to represent Government and regulate Government business in the Senate when the Prime Minister is not sitting in the House.