ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: Pakistan Muslim League-N Senator Ishaq Dar has been nominated as the parliamentary leader of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in the Senate.

A source told Dawn that Ishaq Dar had been appointed the parliamentary leader of the ARD in a meeting of the senators of the alliance held at the Parliament House before the start of the Senate session here on Thursday.

The source said Mr Dar had been made the parliamentary leader after the appointment of Mian Raza Rabbani as the opposition leader in the Senate. He said Amanullah Kanrani of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) had been appointed chief whip of the ARD.

The source said the decision was taken in line with the decision of late ARD chairman Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, who had appointed Makhdoom Javed Hashmi of the PML-N the parliamentary leader of the ARD in the National Assembly and JWP's Haider Bugti as the chief whip.

Earlier, Mr Dar and Mr Rabbani were the parliamentary leaders of the PML-N and the PPP, respectively, in the Senate.