ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has once again requested the Speaker of the National Assembly to appoint Mehmood Khan Achakzai as the leader of opposition in the lower house of Parliament after the party said it had responded to the objections raised by Ayaz Sadiq.
The National Assembly has been without an opposition leader since August 2025, when Omar Ayub was disqualified as a member of the National Assembly after being convicted in the May 9 case.
A few weeks later, imprisoned PTI leader Imran Khan appointed Achakzai as opposition leader.
According to the rules, it is the President of the National Assembly who has the power to appoint the leader of the opposition.
Ayaz Sadiq, however, refused to act on the PTI’s request, citing pending cases against Omar Ayub.
Today, in a latest development, senior PTI leader and chief whip Amir Dogar wrote to President Ayaz Sadiq, confirming that the case in the Peshawar High Court regarding the disqualification of former opposition leader Omar Ayub had been withdrawn.
A copy of the letter dated December 31, 2025, available in The Express PK Press Club on Thursday, said all legal hurdles have been removed and hence the Leader of Opposition should be appointed without further delay.
Following this development, the opposition in the National Assembly formally requested the President to issue a notification confirming Achakzai’s appointment, emphasizing that all obstacles had now been removed.
The letter follows an earlier communication from the President’s office, dated December 29, which linked the opposition leader’s statement to the ongoing legal proceedings.
This was the fourth letter exchanged between President Sadiq and Dogar on the issue, with the former saying the matter remained “sub-judice”.
According to a press release from the Secretariat of the National Assembly, previous letters on this subject were sent on November 19, December 5 and December 19, 2025.
The post of opposition leader fell vacant in August 2025 when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified the then opposition leader Omar Ayub following his conviction in cases related to the May 9 riots.
Subsequently, Imran Khan nominated Achakzai as his candidate and the PTI formally requested his nomination in October 2025.
When Achakzai was nominated by the opposition, former NA opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan filed legal petitions in court challenging his disqualification and associated procedural aspects.
These cases were pending in court and were cited by the President’s office as a reason for not issuing the official notification of Achakzai’s appointment.
The President of the National Assembly repeatedly told opposition delegations that the matter was pending and therefore he could not finalize the appointment.
Today, Chief Whip Amir Dogar’s letter effectively shifts the buck to the Speaker’s office, with the opposition saying all procedural and legal requirements for notification have been met.
Achakzai, leader of the Pakhtoonkhwa Mili Awami party, is also the head of the grand opposition alliance, tasked with starting talks with the government.
