National Assembly (NA) secretariat on Friday declared former federal minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart Khurshid Shah as unopposed leader of opposition in NA. A notification to the effect was also issued by the NA secretary.
The decision was adopted in pursuance of Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.
According to details, Shah had filed an application for being leader of the opposition with signatures of 43 members of the National Assembly (MNAs), which means Shah received an additional vote from outside PPP MNAs.
The deadline for filing the application was 4 pm on Friday. However, no other political party had filed an application for the slot, following which the NA secretary conducted scrutiny of Shah’s papers.
It is quite astounding that no other party put up a claim for the opposition leader’s slot in the National Assembly.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had already contested polls for the position of speaker, deputy speaker and prime minister. However, it surprisingly avoided contesting for the NA opposition leader where it could have given PPP a run for their money.
PML-N would have preferred to see a friendly PPP opposition instead of facing the PTI.
A source told Pakistan Today that PML-N was also considering giving the position of Public Accounts Committee chairman to PPP, as decided in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) inked by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
According to legal experts, the opposition leader has as crucial role to play since the prime minister is constitutionally bound to consult him on several matters including the appointment of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, formation of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and most importantly, appointment of a caretaker prime minister.
In addition, the opposition leader also bears a role in the parliamentary committee for the appointment of superior courts judges after the 18th constitutional amendment.
Khurshid Shah notified unopposed NA opposition leader
