Photo courtesy National Assembly Secretariat
The National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday notified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub Khan as leader of the opposition in the Lower House after Speaker Ayaz Sadiq completed due process per the Rules of Procedure.
According to the notification, the speaker had ratified Ayub’s request to be declared opposition leader after the latter called on the former. In a posting on X, the secretariat said opposition members Gohar Ali Khan and Malik Amir Dogar were also present during the meeting between the speaker and the new opposition leader.
“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,” the tweet added.
A majority of the opposition nominated Ayub as opposition leader and no other candidate was proposed for the position. “The time for submission of papers for the nomination of the Leader of the Opposition was April 1, 2024, till 6 pm. No other candidate’s papers have been received by the stipulated time,” the NA Secretariat added.
Ayub was nominated for the opposition leader in early March, with 92 lawmakers of the Sunni Ittehad Council supporting him.