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• Slot was vacant for almost five months after Omar Ayub’s disqualification over May 9 conviction
• PTI leaders congratulate TTAP chief; Gohar says he received notification after long delay
• Predecessor believes Achakzai will ‘fulfil his responsibilities brilliantly’
ISLAMABAD: Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai was finally appointed leader of the opposition in the National Assembly on Friday — a slot that had been lying vacant for almost five months since the disqualification of PTI’s Omar Ayub.
Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan had named Mr Achakzai, who is also the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief, for the opposition leader’s slot in the lower house of parliament in August last year.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified both the NA and Senate opposition leaders, Mr Ayub and Shibli Faraz, respectively, in August following their convictions in cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots.
“[The] honourable speaker has been pleased to declare Mr Mehmood Khan Achakzai, member of the National Assembly, as leader of the opposition in the NA, with effect from January 16, 2026,” read a notification issued by NA Acting Secretary Saeed Ahmad Maitla.
It added that the notification had been issued under “Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007”.
Prior to the issuance of the notification, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq summoned PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Chief Whip Amir Dogar to his chambers, stating that he had a “notification to give” them.
The three then proceeded to the speaker’s chamber while the acting speaker presided over the lower house session.
After emerging from the speaker’s chamber, the PTI chairman announced that the opposition leader had been appointed.
Mr Gohar said the “notification was supposed to be issued yesterday; however, it was not due to some issues”. “Today, it has finally been issued,” he added.
“Although it was our right, we received it today after a long delay,” he continued.
Congratulations pour in Former NA opposition leader Omar Ayub congratulated Mr Achakzai on the appointment, voicing optimism that he would “fulfil his responsibilities brilliantly”.
“Heartiest congratulations to Achakzai sahib, who has been officially declared as the ‘Leader of the Opposition National Assembly’,” Mr Ayub wrote in a post on X. “It is a great singular honour, and Ackhakzai sahib will, InshaAllah, fulfil his responsibilities brilliantly.”
PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan also congratulated Mr Achakzai.
“Congratulations on becoming the opposition leader. It’s a great honour and responsibility given to him by our leader,” he wrote on X.
Mr Khan also expressed hope that Mr Achakzai, in his position, “will do his best” to ensure the release of the PTI founder and “other innocent political prisoners, including our vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi”.
He further hoped that Mr Achakzai would bring “derailed democracy back on track”.
PTI’s struggle
On Jan 13, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar confirmed the party’s submission of Mr Achakzai’s nomination papers to the NA speaker.
It was the second time the party had formally proposed his name for the post of opposition leader in the lower house of parliament.
On Jan 6, NA Speaker Sadiq had said that the process for the appointment of the opposition leader was to be initiated afresh.
The opposition had also submitted nomination papers for Mr Achakzai to the speaker’s office in October last year.
Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, 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.
However, the submission in October was made to the speaker’s office rather than to him personally.
The opposition has also repeatedly accused the government of delaying Mr Achakzai’s appointment, while the NA speaker had until recently maintained that the matter was “sub judice” — apparently a reference to Mr Ayub’s appeal against his disqualification.
Mr Ayub had filed pleas in the Supreme Court and high courts against his removal but later withdrew them.
Subsequently, the NA Secretariat sent a letter to PTI Chief Whip Dogar in December, seeking details about the status of cases concerning Mr Ayub.
The letter said the provision of the details in writing was necessary for the completion of the process for the appointment of the opposition leader in the NA.
Mr Dogar submitted the required documents to the NA speaker on Jan 5, following which the latter said that the constitutional process for appointing the next opposition leader would be initiated afresh in the next parliamentary session.
During the Jan 6 NA session, the speaker formally initiated the process for the appointment of the opposition leader by seeking proposals for the nomination.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026
