LAHORE, Jan 25: Who will be the next leader of opposition in the National Assembly?

Sources say that since the ARD has more seats in the National Assembly, the opposition leader will come from the ARD, not the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, religious parties’ conglomerate which too is sitting on opposition benches.

Some important leaders are trying to convince the MMA that it should not create any problem in the election of the opposition leader.

PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Faheem is most likely to head the opposition.

For a better working relationship between the ARD and the MMA, the office of the deputy opposition leader may be offered to the latter.

In case the MMA decides not to accept the office, the mantle may go to PML-N acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

ARD President Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan wants that the ARD and the MMA should join hands in the National Assembly to mount adequate pressure on the ruling party not to take unilateral decisions.

He says that the opposition will be in a position to play an effective and potent role only if parties in the ARD and the MMA work together.

If the ARD decides to stage a boycott on some issue and the MMA does not support the idea, the ruling party will be the beneficiary of the situation, the senior leader argues.

Though late, the octogenarian leader has already succeeded in bringing the two alliances closer. The PPP’s cooperation with the MMA in the Sindh Assembly after its reservations about joining hands with religious parties at the time of the election of the prime minister and speaker of the National Assembly substantiates the assertion.