Internal wrangling in PTI on choosing Shah Mehmood Qureshi as new NA Opp leader

One camp within the PTI wants to see Imran Khan heading the opposition in the lower house of parliament

Differences have emerged within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ranks over the possibility of selecting Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the candidate for the National Assembly leader of the opposition slot.

The party's leaders have split into two groups over the matter, Express News reported.

Many parliamentarians of the party have expressed serious reservations over selecting Qureshi for the position.

Sources said it was decided at a meeting of the PTI parliamentary party that chairman Imran Khan would be nominated as the opposition leader.



However, a meeting between a PTI delegation led by Qureshi with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Farooq Sattar in Karachi on Tuesday indicated otherwise.

The PTI's decision to join hands with the MQM-P has not gone down well with some of the key leaders of the former in Karachi. They say that PTI activists and supporters in Karachi are disappointed over the move.

Qureshi's tilt towards the MQM-P has compelled the party leaders in the city to oppose his nomination.



Similarly, the party's parliamentarians in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa too want to see Imran heading the opposition in the assembly instead of Qureshi.

A senior party leader opined that Qureshi was too "soft-spoken" for the task.

Sources said senior party leader Jehangir Tareen is supporting the camp that is opposing Qureshi's nomination.

After their meeting in Karachi, the PTI and MQM-P leaders had hinted at their alliance in the next general election as well as bringing a new leader of opposition in the National Assembly.