The PTI formally requested the appointment of (PkMAP) Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai as the National Assembly opposition leader on Tuesday, with party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan confirming the submission of his nomination papers.
This is the second time that the party has formally proposed Achakzai’s name for the opposition leader’s post in the lower house of Parliament.
The development comes a day after NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq began afresh the process for the appointment of the opposition leader — a slot that has been lying vacant for almost five months since the disqualification of PTI’s Omar Ayub in August 2025.
Speaking to Geo News in Parliament today, Barrister Gohar said the documents for the appointment of Achakzai had been submitted, and he was expecting that the PkMAP leader would be notified as the new leader of the opposition in the NA on Thursday.
In response to a question, he said his party had just one nominee for the vacant slot — Achakzai — and only his nomination papers had been submitted.
Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan had named Achakzai for the opposition leader’s slot in the NA in August last year, nearly two weeks after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified following his conviction in cases pertaining to riots on May 9, 2023.
The opposition has repeatedly accused the government of delaying Achakzai’s appointment, while the NA speaker maintained until recently that the matter was “sub judice” — apparently a reference to Ayub’s appeal against his disqualification.
Ayub had filed pleas in the Supreme Court and high courts against his removal but later withdrew the petitions.
More to follow
