ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said they will have Mahmood Khan Achakzai as their leader of opposition in the National Assembly session on Friday.
He was speaking to the media outside the NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s office after the party formally again requested in writing for notification of Achakzai. He also made it clear there was no forward bloc in his party and that no political or apex committee could change (Imran) Khan’s decision. The PTI’s jailed leader had named the nationalist leader as the opposition leader in the assembly.
Gohar maintained that there was no other person for the opposition leader but Mahmood Khan Achakzai and that only he had submitted the papers for the opposition leader’s slot. Achakzai is the chairman of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and also heads the opposition alliance of Tehreek Tahaffuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan. “Our meeting with the speaker took place in a good atmosphere; we have removed all objections, there is no objection to related papers. The signature will be confirmed by tomorrow, our opposition leader will be announced on Thursday, we will have our own opposition leader in the session on Friday,” he announced. He also clarified that there was no discussion on negotiations in the NA speaker’s office.
Speaking on the occasion, PTI Chief Whip Aamir Dogar said according to the instructions of the National Assembly, the updated list has been submitted to the speaker after fulfilling the requirements. He explained that there was no grouping within them and that Mahmood Khan Achakzai had submitted his nomination papers and he was their opposition leader.
Ex-NA speaker and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser said it was the discretion of the NA speaker, he could issue the notification of the opposition leader whenever he wanted. He was hopeful that after they had fulfilled all the requirements, there would be no further delay in this connection.
Earlier, nomination for the appointment of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly was filed, which reads, “We, the undersigned members of the National Assembly belonging to the opposition benches, have the honour to nominate Mehmood Khan Achakzai, MNA (NA-266) for appointment as leader of opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan.”
It was noted that the office of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly was presently vacant. In accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, the leader of the opposition is to be appointed from among members of the House, who belong to the opposition and commands the confidence of the majority of members sitting on the opposition benches.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby affirm that Mehmood Khan Achakzai enjoys the confidence and support of the majority of members belonging to the opposition, and is, therefore, the most suitable person to hold this constitutional office. The timely appointment of the leader of the opposition will ensure the effective discharge of constitutional and parliamentary responsibilities entrusted to the opposition,” it says.
The opposition requested the speaker to appoint Achakzai as leader of the opposition at the earliest.
Previously, the opposition had submitted to the speaker’s office the nomination papers for Achakzai in October 2025, whereas the slot of the opposition leader had fallen vacant in August last. According to Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, 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. The opposition has repeatedly accused the government of delaying Achakzai’s appointment. However, the NA speaker had contended a few weeks back that the matter was sub judice, as ex-opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, who was disqualified and subsequently stripped of his post, had moved a court against his disqualification.
A few days back, in accordance with the NA Secretariat’s letter, the pleas were withdrawn and this was intimated to the secretariat accordingly. The speaker formally initiated the process for the appointment of the NA opposition leader by seeking proposals for the nomination during his meeting on Monday with the opposition members.
Gohar said they had clearly stated that the TTP was a terrorist party and that there should be no politics on the issue of terrorism. He said: “We clearly say that the TTP is a terrorist party; there should be no politics on the issue of terrorism. The National Action Plan should be implemented on this issue, there should be no soft spot in anyone’s heart regarding terrorists.”
He emphasized that every element, which the government and institutions consider terrorists, they (PTI) also consider them terrorists. “Organisations active against the interests of Pakistan fall under the category of terrorism,” he made it clear. CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi is not nominated in any case of May 9 and it is not clear where the video of him that came out in the forensic report is from.
Replying to a question, he regretted that unfortunately, the attitude of Sindh government changed on the last day of Sohail Afridi’s visit to Karachi, as his route was blocked on his return from Hyderabad; the Sindh government first allowed the rally and then closed the roads.
The PTI chairman pointed out that before Sohail Afridi’s visit to Karachi, he had thanked the Sindh government for its attitude. “Wherever the KP chief minister went, not a single pot was broken. People welcomed him and expressed their feelings,” he noted, adding that hopefully, the notification of Achakzai as the opposition leader would be issued by Thursday, which would be a big step towards building trust.
“I have always said that there should be talks, there should be a political solution to political issues so that the situation becomes normal. Every week we come, wait and go back. I don’t know who has taught them that it is a good practice not to allow meetings with our leader (in jail),” he maintained.
To a question, he said PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has clarified his statement about him and that he does not want the internal affairs of the party to come out. “If the founder of the party asks me, I will resign and go home,” he said, adding that the party founder has given him the post of chairman and this is a trust. “The pen of the party is with me but the authority is with the founder chairman.”
He said one should learn a lesson by tolerating opposing voices, as he has never spoken in public about the founder of PTI and Bushra Bibi.
Separately, the sister of Imran Khan, Aleema Khan, has declined to share details of the plan of action with regard to February 8 (general elections anniversary). But she made it clear that no one was going to D-Chowk.
Talking to the media along with her lawyer Faisal Malik outside the Anti-Terrorism Court Rawalpindi, she said she did not know why time was being wasted on false cases. She said people paid taxes for their facilities and justice; it was clear that not everything could be run with guns in this country. She wondered why the Islamabad High Court was not hearing the case of the PTI founder.
“Everyone saw that people have come out in Karachi, people cannot tolerate them for long,” she said, referring to the PTI’s recent public meeting. She claimed that they were in a hurry to send her to jail before February 8.
