ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party has nominated Dr Sikandar Mandhro as the party`s parliamentary leader in the Senate.

Dr Mandhro, who has been elected as senator for the first time, has replaced veteran party leader Taj Haider, who retired after completion of his six-year term as senator on March 11 and was not given the party ticket for another term.

Dr Mandhro had been elected as a memberof the Sindh assembly for five times and was serving as the health minister in the cabinet of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah until his election as a senator earlier this month.

Interestingly, the official website of the Sindh assembly still shows Dr Mandhro as an elected MPA from PS-58 Badin, even though he has already taken oath as a senator.

Talking to Dawn after his nomination as the PPP`s parliamentary leader by party chief Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Mandhro said he had resigned as a member of the provincial assembly and that he did not know why his name was still there on the of ficial website of the legislature.

PPP-nominated Sherry Rehman has already taken the of fice of Opposition Leader in the Senate, becoming the first woman in the history of Senate to get the coveted position.