PTI leader Amir Dogar on Thursday said that the party remained firm on having Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai as its nominee for the slot of the National Assembly opposition leader.
The PTI had formally requested Achakzai’s appointment to the position last month in the wake of the post being left vacant after Omar Ayub’s disqualification.
However, the National Assembly Secretariat maintains that Ayub’s disqualification is a sub-judice matter with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq making it clear that, in line with parliamentary practice, such announcements were made on the floor of the house to allow all members an equal opportunity to propose a candidate for the position and since he had not yet made any announcement regarding the schedule for submitting proposals, no request or nomination could be entertained at this stage.
A statement issued by Dogar said that the PTI had nominated Achakzai for the role, after which the government had written a letter to him raising objections to the PkMAP chief’s name.
“PTI decided to stick with the name of Mahmood Khan Achakzai for the opposition leader,” the statement said, quoting Dogar as saying that the decision was “final”.
He added that Achakzai’s name was given after consulting PTI founder Imran Khan and would not be changed.
Dogar maintained that there would be no further consultation on the issue and he would discuss the letter with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar before replying to it.
“The seat of the opposition leader has been vacant for the past two months, during which the 27th Amendment was passed. Mahmood Khan Achakzai is constitutionally part of the assembly; there is no justification for objection to his name. This is our constitutional right, the government should not delay it,” he said.
Barrister Gohar also said separately in a post on X that Imran nominated Achakzai for the role. “We can never review that decision. No meeting with anyone else is taking place.”
Along with Achakzai for the NA role, the PTI had nominated Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen’s Allama Raja Nasir Abbas for the Senate opposition leader slot, left vacant by Shibli Faraz’s disqualification.