NA speaker finally gets the ball rolling on opposition leader’s appointment
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Monday sought proposals for the nomination of the opposition leader in the lower house of Parliament.
The post has been vacant since August 2025, following the disqualification of PTI’s Omar Ayub by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). While the opposition has accused the government of delaying the appointment despite them putting forward Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s name for the role, Sadiq has maintained that the delay was because the matter was sub judice.
At the outset of Monday’s session, Sadiq reiterated his stance that he could not initiate the nomination process earlier as the matter was subjudice and the NA Secretariat had been made a party in the cases.
He said that as PTI’s Ayub had withdrawn his petitions in the Supreme Court and high courts against his removal, the nomination process could now be formally initiated.
“This issue had to head towards resolution only then. We would have done so if we had not been made a party [to the case],” Sadiq said.
Addressing the opposition benches, he said proposals for nominating the opposition leader may be submitted in his chambers by 3pm today (Tuesday), as per Rule 39(ii) of the Rules of Procedures.
Rule 39 confirms it is the sole prerogative of the speaker to ask the opposition at any time to submit a name, after which the opposition may present it.
Sadiq stated that the nominations should be accompanied by the signatures of members of the opposition. The count will be made at 3pm on January 14 in accordance with Rule 39(iii) of the NA rules, the speaker announced.
The MNA having the greatest numerical strength after the signature of the members shall be declared as the opposition leader.
It is worth noting that the opposition had submitted the name of Achakzai — who heads the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) — to the speaker’s office in October 2025 rather than presenting it to the speaker personally.
Speaking in the NA, Sadiq recalled that he had informed PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and opposition chief whip Malik Amir Dogar that the matter was sub judice when they had called on him in November 2025.
He highlighted that he had written letters to the opposition on Nov 19, Dec 5, Dec 19 and Dec 29 to “confirm the status”, following which Dogar submitted the required documents. Staff Report
