By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Tuesday formally nominated Mehmood Khan Achakzai, a veteran Pashtun nationalist and ally, to lead the opposition in the National Assembly, seeking to fill a key parliamentary post that has remained vacant for nearly five months amid the country’s deepening political standoff.
The move came a day after the assembly’s speaker, Ayaz Sadiq, restarted the process to appoint an opposition leader, following the disqualification last year of Omar Ayub, a PTI lawmaker. It marked the second time PTI has pushed Achakzai’s name for the role.
In a letter to Sadiq, signed by PTI’s chief whip in the assembly, Malik Aamir Dogar, and other opposition members, the party invoked parliamentary rules to argue for Achakzai’s selection. “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 the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan,” the letter stated.
Citing Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedures of Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, it emphasised that the opposition leader must come from members who “belong to the opposition and who command the confidence of the majority of the members sitting on the opposition benches.” The letter added: “In view of the foregoing, we hereby affirm that Mehmood Khan Achakzai enjoys the confidence and support of the majority of the members belonging to the opposition, and is, therefore, the most suitable person to hold this constitutional office.”
It urged swift action, noting that “the timely appointment of the leader of the opposition will ensure the effective discharge of constitutional and parliamentary responsibilities entrusted to the opposition.” The signatories requested that Achakzai be appointed “after following necessary procedures for the appointment of the leader of the opposition in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and the previous parliamentary practices” and “at the earliest.”
A PTI delegation met with Sadiq to submit the nomination, and the speaker said signatures would be verified by Wednesday. Speaking to reporters afterward, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan expressed optimism that Achakzai would be notified by Thursday, adding that document verification would wrap up by Wednesday. He noted that only one nomination had been filed for the position.
Responding to a question about internal party divisions, Barrister Gohar dismissed suggestions of a forward bloc within PTI. “There was no forward bloc within the PTI and all the leaders were united under the leadership of Imran Khan, and no one could disagree with the decision of the PTI founder,” he said.
Achakzai, who leads the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and heads the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, was first floated for the role by the incarcerated founder of PTI Imran Khan himself in August of last year, shortly after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified Ayub following convictions related to riots on May 9, 2023. The opposition submitted nomination papers for Achakzai in October 2025, but the process stalled.
All this played out as clashes between the PTI and security forces sharpened yet again. Late Tuesday, police moved in to scatter a protest by supporters of Khan and his sisters outside Adiala jail, where the former prime minister has been locked up since his arrest. Authorities wouldn’t let them see him, sparking the standoff.
Khan’s sisters, Aleema, Uzma and Noreen Niazi, stuck around at Factory Naka with a few backers well after midnight, even as many participants fled toward the nearby Gorakhpur neighborhood, pursued by anti-riot units, according to authorities. Roads leading to the prison were sealed off throughout the day, with a heavy police presence deployed to block PTI followers. The sisters arrived intending to visit Khan but were halted at Factory Naka, along with other party figures. Barrister Gohar stopped at Dahgal Naka, while PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja reported being intercepted at a checkpoint near Bahria Town and later at Chakri en route to the jail.
Earlier, Aleema Khan told journalists that “we will do whatever needs to be done” to secure Mr. Khan’s release. As for notes from Khan that pop up on X, she said “whatever messages he sends” get posted there—though he has no web access in jail, and it’s not clear who runs the account. These midnight raids have become routine in recent weeks, with police using water cannons and other tactics to break up the gatherings. PTI figures insist they have a legal right to see Khan, backed by a March court order from the Islamabad High Court allowing visits twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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