ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has nominated Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), as the new Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Reports said the nomination was communicated by Imran Khan during meetings with visitors at Adiala Jail, where he remains incarcerated. The development follows a leadership vacuum created by the disqualification of former opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan.
Omar Ayub lost his position as Opposition Leader, as well as his membership on the Public Accounts Committee and other parliamentary committees, following his conviction by an anti-terrorism court in connection with cases related to the events of May 9.
Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued formal disqualification notifications for both Omar Ayub and PTI leader Shibli Faraz, based on the court’s verdict.
Both leaders have challenged the ECP’s decisions in the Peshawar High Court, seeking annulment of their disqualifications.
Omar Ayub filed a petition asserting the ECP’s decision was illegal and should be declared void. Similarly, Shibli Faraz filed a separate petition claiming his disqualification was unlawful and requested that the ECP’s notification be overturned.
