QUETTA: Maulana Abdul Wasey, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s parliamentary leader in the Balochistan Assembly, has challenged in the Balochistan High Court the appointment of Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party as opposition leader in the house.

Last week, Speaker Raheela Hameed Durrani had issued a notification appointing Mr Ziaratwal the new opposition leader. Lawyers for Maulana Wasey filed a constitutional petition in the court on Monday, asking how Mr Ziaratwal could lead opposition parties in the assembly after being part of Balochistan’s coalition government for four and a half years.

A two-judge bench of the BHC, comprising Chief Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai and Justice Zaheeruddin Kakar, accepted the petition for hearing and issued a notice to Advocate General Muhammad Rauf Atta.

The next hearing on the petition will be held on March 26.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2018