NA notifies PTI’s Omar Ayub as opposition leader

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Omar Ayub as Leader of the Opposition in the lower house of the parliament after completing the process to this effect.

The NA secretariat, in a statement, confirmed that Ayub has been notified to lead the opposition.The development came after a meeting between the PTI leader and the NA speaker. Opposition members Gohar Ali Khan and Malik Amir Dogar were also present in the meeting wherein views were exchanged on the opposition leader’s nomination.

The NA secretariat wrote on X: “The speaker of the National Assembly declares Omar Ayub the Leader of the Opposition after the completion of the scrutiny process under Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the National Assembly.”

Ayub’s name was proposed by the majority of the Opposition members. The PTI-Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) alliance had nominated Ayub on March 10 as the opposition leader.

“The time for submission of papers for the nomination of the Leader of the Opposition was April 1, 2024, till 6pm. No other candidate’s papers have been received by the stipulated time,” the NA secretariat said.

Malik Amir Dogar, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Ali Muhammad Khan, Riaz Fatiana, Dr Nisar Jat and others had submitted the plea to the speaker’s office, which carried signatures of 92 SIC lawmakers.