PESHAWAR, Nov 28: Akram Khan Durrani of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal is set to record an easy victory over Qalander Lodhi of the PML-Q in the election for the Leader of House in the NWFP Assembly on Friday.

In the Wednesday’s elections for the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, the MMA-backed candidates had returned by securing 81 votes each in the House of 124.

Though the four opposition groups in the House — the PPP, the PPP-S, the ANP, and the PML-Q — have yet to decide the contentious issue of the Leader of Opposition, they reached consensus over fielding a joint candidate for the election of the Leader of House.

“Yes, we will vote for Qalander Lodhi,” said PPP’s parliamentary party leader Abdul Akbar Khan when contacted by Dawn.

He claimed that the issue of selecting the Leader of Opposition from the four opposition groups would be decided after the election of the Leader of House.

The four opposition parties jointly have 42 members in the House: 10 each of the PML-Q, the PPP and the ANP, and 12 of the PPP-S.