Daily Times

Dissident PTI MNA Raja Riaz Ahmad was Friday elected as the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly after getting support of majority of members. He was polled 16 votes. The announcement was made public in a statement released by the NA Secretariat. As per statement, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf declared Raja Riaz Ahmad as the Leader of the Opposition. He managed the support of majority of the members from the opposition. The statement said the speaker, in pursuance of rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, declared Raja Riaz as the Leader of the Opposition. A notification to this effect was issued by the NA Secretariat. Speaker Ashraf said it was announced in the House that any opposition lawmaker wishing to become the leader of the opposition could show their strength and submit the relevant MNAs’ signatures to his office. He added that the opposition MNAs interested in becoming the opposition leader were given time till 3pm to submit their papers with the signatures of supporting lawmakers. The speaker said the verification of signatures was done by 4pm, adding that Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Raja Riaz, and Hussain Elahi had submitted their nomination papers for the post. “Elahi withdrew favour of Mahar. However, despite getting his support, he could only gather support from six MNAs. Therefore, I declare Raja Riaz as the Leader of the Opposition,” said Ashraf.