Omar Ayub of Imran Khan’s party named leader of opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly

In a joint effort, the PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council have nominated Omar Ayub Khan, a leader of Imran Khan’s party, as the leader of the opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly. The formal nomination was completed by submitting documents to the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Saturday, as reported by the Dawn newspaper on Sunday. Omar Ayub Khan was also the candidate who lost to Shehbaz Sharif from the PML-N party in the recent prime ministerial election. Following the general elections on February 8, around 90 PTI candidates joined the SIC to secure reserved seats. The nomination papers were submitted by Malik Amir Dogar in the presence of SIC leader Sahib­zada Hamid Raza, along with MNAs Ali Mohammad Khan, Riaz Fatyana, and Dr Nisar Ahmad Jatt. Dr Jatt expressed optimism that Ayub would be appointed as the opposition leader in the NA through nomination on March 13 or 14, rather than through an election. The leader of the opposition holds the status of a federal minister and typically has a separate office for conducting opposition meetings. The Public Accounts Committee is usually led by the leader of the opposition.