Critics say opposition leader’s appointment could be timed to pre-empt February 8 PTI broadcast
ISLAMABAD:
After months of drifting, when the National Assembly finally regained a formal opposition voice last Friday with the appointment of Mahmood Khan Achakzai as opposition leader, the move ended a deadlock that had paralyzed the lower house for more than five months.
However, this development also immediately reframed the political debate: was it simply a procedural closure, or the first signal of a broader recalibration aimed at removing political opposition from the streets and Parliament?
Achakzai’s appointment – made on the nomination of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan – has raised an inevitable question about timing and intent.
What, critics asked, finally prompted National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to act now, when a similar demand from the PTI in October had been refused? The decision’s proximity to the planned PTI protest on February 8 has only heightened speculation.
Rumors soon followed that three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had quietly intervened, pushing the government to approve the appointment. The NA spokesperson, however, publicly rejected the claims, saying Nawaz Sharif had given him full authority to make decisions and insisting that Achakzai’s appointment was his own decision.
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, however, hinted at a broader internal process, telling a private news channel that party decisions are taken through consultation and that Nawaz Sharif has final authority.
As the debate over the agency and the timeline continues, political sources told The Express PK Press Club that the appointment of opposition leaders to the National Assembly and Senate was part of a broader deal between the government and opposition parties aimed at easing institutional paralysis.
If members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are to be believed, Achakzai’s elevation is aimed at steering the PTI away from street agitation and back to parliamentary politics.
A senior PML-N leader confirmed that there was a broader understanding that Achakzai would help bring the PTI back into the parliamentary fold, adding that the government would welcome a more active and structured opposition in Parliament.
The timing of the notification is widely seen as significant, coming just weeks before the PTI’s planned February 8 protest. The government, however, hopes that Achakzai – who was also tasked by Imran Khan to lead the opposition – will persuade the PTI to withdraw from street politics.
A senior PML-N leader and close confidant of Nawaz Sharif confirmed this assessment.
Senator Pervaiz Rasheed told The Express PK Press Club that one of the positive outcomes of appointing an opposition leader was that the parliamentary deadlock would now end.
He said the second wheel of the parliamentary system had finally been installed in the form of the Leader of the Opposition, enabling Parliament to function smoothly. According to him, the ethical requirements and constitutional necessities of Parliament have now been met, a development which, according to him, deserves to be appreciated.
Rasheed further said that as leader of the opposition, Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s responsibility would be to curb PTI’s dependence on agitations, street protests and marches to D-Chowk, and bring the party back to Parliament.
He said Achakzai would integrate them into Parliament and work to shape and reform their political culture. Describing Achakzai as a lifelong democrat, Rasheed said that in his new role, he would explain to the opposition that politics and democracy work through political parties, and that political parties must recognize each other.
He added that Achakzai would teach them to stay away from agitational politics and not wait for “the finger of an arbiter”.
Rasheed also said he agreed with the Prime Minister’s stance on dialogue, emphasizing that political parties must engage in the discussion. As the country faces terrorism and faces tough economic decisions, he said the first priority should be to bring politics back to Parliament.
Will this bring the PTI back from the streets?
TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai acknowledged that Achakzai’s appointment could help restore normal parliamentary functioning, but warned that the move alone was unlikely to bring the PTI off the streets.
Meaningful engagement, he said, would require the government to acknowledge past actions against the PTI and acknowledge what the party sees as a denial of its democratic rights. The PTI, he stressed, will not abandon the politics of protest based only on nomination.
Responding to Senator Kamran Murtaza’s claims of direct contact between Nawaz Sharif and Achakzai, Yousafzai dismissed the suggestion as false, attributing it to the political rivalry between the two in Balochistan. He said there had been no contact between the former prime minister and Achakzai since the 2024 elections.
While ruling out direct engagement between Nawaz Sharif and Achakzai, Yousafzai confirmed that Rana Sanaullah, a close aide of Nawaz Sharif, had contacted Achakzai after the appointment to congratulate him and renew an offer for dialogue – a move he said would likely have carried Nawaz Sharif’s approval.
However, he stressed that Imran Khan remained the central figure in PTI’s decision-making. “Until he is aware of this, we cannot make contact,” he said, adding that the party was moving cautiously and had repeatedly stressed that Achakzai and Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, who was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Senate, should meet to take things forward.
