Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani ( ur, ; born 14 April 1978) is a Pakistani politician who is from

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

and is the 8th and current

Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan ( ur, ), is the president-chair of the Senate of Pakistan.Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakista ...

on 12 March 2018. He is the youngest and first-ever Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan who hails from the province of

. He belongs to the well-educated

Sanjrani The Sanjrani ( bal, سنجرانی ) are a Baloch tribe of Rind origin settled in Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. The Chief of Chagai title belongs to Sanjrani tribe based in Dalbandin. In the British colonial era, District Ch ...

tribe.

Early life and education

Sanjrani was born on 14 April 1978 in Nok Kundi,

Balochistan, Pakistan Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

. He received his early education from Nok Kundi and then moved to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

from where he did his degree.

Political career

Sanjrani began his political career in 1998 as coordinator of the team of then Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

where he served until the

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized con ...

. In 2008, he was made in-charge of the Prime Minister's

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

Grievance Cell at the Prime Minister's Secretariat where he remained for five years. Sanjrani was elected to the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakista ...

as an independent candidate on a general seat from Balochistan in the

2018 Pakistani Senate election The triennial Senate Elections of Pakistan were held on 3 March 2018 to replace 52 retiring senators - half of the Senate's strength - with the winning candidates serving six-year terms. Overall, Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out as the largest ...

. He took his oath as Senator on 12 March 2018. On the same day, he was elected as the 8th

Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan ( ur, ), is the president-chair of the Senate of Pakistan. He received 57 votes out of a total 103 votes cast and defeated

Raja Zafar ul Haq Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq ( ur, ; born 18 November 1935), is an ex- Pakistan Senator from the Punjab, served from being elected on 12 March 2009. He had been the leader of the opposition in Senate from 2018 to 2021. He is serving as the Cha ...

, a candidate of the

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

who obtained 46 votes. Sanjrani was voted into the chairmanship by the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

, and independent Senators from Balochistan and the

Federally Administered Tribal Areas , conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas , nation = Pakistan , subdivision = Autonomous territory , image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg , image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...

. He became the first ever Chairman of the Senate who hailed from the province of

and became the youngest-ever Chairman of the Senate at the age of 39. He was a relatively lesser-known figure in Pakistan's political spectrum prior to being elected as Chairman of the Senate. In September 2018, Sanjrani addressed the

National Assembly of Azerbaijan The National Assembly ( az, Milli Məclis), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms ...

on the eve of its 100th anniversary. On 1 August 2019, a no-confidence motion was presented by the opposition parties in the senate to remove him from the post of the Chairman of the Senate. The resolution was tabled in the Senate with 64 senators in support of it. The no-confidence motion failed to pass because the opposition parties only gathered 50 votes, 3 votes short of the resolution passing. Sanjrani still stands as the

Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan ( ur, ), is the president-chair of the Senate of Pakistan.PTI PTI may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pardon the Interruption'', an American television sports show * PTI, a musical group on the WTII Records label Organizations * Pacific Torah Institute, a yeshiva high school in Vancouver, British Columb ...

government coalition and a confirmation of the senators having confidence in the chairman. On 12 March 2021, he was re-elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, defeating his rival Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani.

Acting President of Pakistan

The acting

president of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...

went abroad for medical treatment. On 11 April 2022, he took his oath from

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

as Acting President due to the illness of

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Arif Alvi Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi (; born 29 July 1949) is a Pakistani dentist and politician currently serving as the 13th President of Pakistan, in office since 9 September 2018. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 to May 2 ...

. He will have served as the acting

president of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Living people 1978 births People from Chagai District Members of the Senate of Pakistan Chairmen of the Senate of Pakistan Baloch people University of Balochistan alumni Acting presidents of Pakistan Presidents of Pakistan