ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly is poised to formally appoint Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), as the Leader of the Opposition, with the notification expected to be issued later today, Friday.
The process moved to its final stage after the Speaker’s Office completed the scrutiny of nomination papers. The National Assembly Secretariat subsequently prepared and sent a summary to the Speaker for the formal announcement. Achakzai emerged as the sole candidate for the constitutional position, which carries significant weight in appointments to key electoral and accountability bodies.
Confirming the development, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah stated on Geo News’ Capital Talk that “Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s notification as the opposition leader will be done today.” His remarks signal the government’s endorsement of the appointment, which follows negotiations among parliamentary parties.
The appointment has drawn a measured response from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the largest party in the opposition bloc. Malik Aamir Dogar, PTI’s Chief Whip in the NA, called Achakzai’s notification “a good omen.” However, he emphasized that a meeting with the jailed PTI founder, Imran Khan, is necessary to decide on subsequent steps, including the potential return of PTI lawmakers to the assembly’s standing committees from which they had previously resigned.
Rana Sanaullah linked this demand to the broader political climate. He suggested that if the call for protests commemorating the May 9 incidents does not resurge after the February 8 elections, the issue of a meeting with the PTI founder could be resolved, hinting at a potential political trade-off.
Separately, during his television appearance, Rana Sanaullah also commented on the recent meeting between PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari, stating that “Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should not have presented the Sindh case in the Presidency,” underscoring ongoing inter-party nuances within the ruling coalition.
