From govt to opposition: PPP’s Khursheed Shah secures the opposition leader slot

PPP has 41 seats in National Assembly against 35 of PTI and 23 of MQM.

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has declared Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Syed Khursheed Shah as leader of the opposition. The decision was taken in light of Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 on Friday.

A notification in this regard was issued by the National Assembly Secretariat.

The former ruling party, PPP, had won 124 out of a total 342 seats in the National Assembly in 2008. In the May 11 elections, the party secured only 41 seats, becoming the second largest party after Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N).

Over the last five years, Khursheed Shah has been at the forefront of the party and is one of its few lawmakers who attended the most number of sessions of the lower house.

The leader of the opposition has a crucial role to play. The premier is constitutionally bound to consult the opposition leader on several accounts, such as on the appointment of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, formation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and most importantly in appointing a caretaker prime minister.

Through the 18th constitutional amendment, the  opposition leader has a role in the parliamentary committee for the appointment of judges of the superior courts.



The PPP government had started a new trend whereby the leader of the opposition is appointed chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as well. Former opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan headed the PAC during the PPP government. However, he resigned after differences with the government over the appointment of a handpicked auditor general of Pakistan.

According to ECP figures, PPP won only two general seats in Punjab and 31 from its stronghold of Sindh. After winning 33 general seats, the party was allocated seven seats reserved for women and one for minorities.

There were speculations of a possible alliance between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which has 35 seats and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which has 23 seats. This could have prevented the PPP from appointing its own leader of the opposition. However, it seems this did not materialise.

On Imran Khan not being elected as opposition leader, PTI lawmaker Arif Alvi tweeted: “To nominate Imran Khan as leader of the opposition, he had to take oath which he cannot [at the moment] as [he is] still resting. We did not have the numbers without him.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.