Mehmood Achakzai appointed as leader of opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly

Islamabad, Jan 16 (PTI) Pakistan authorities on Friday appointed veteran Pashtun tribal politician Mehmood Khan Achakzai as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

The post was lying vacant since August last year after Omar Ayub Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was disqualified after conviction in a case of vandalism.

Achakzai leads the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and was nominated by PTI’s incarcerated founder Imran Khan. PTI is also part of the alliance. “Honourable Speaker has been pleased to declare Mr Mehmood Khan Achakzai, member of the National Assembly(NA), as leader of the opposition in the NA, with effect from January 16, 2026,” according to the notification of his appointment.

NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who issued the notification, handed over the appointment document to Achakzai, to PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and PTI Chief Whip Amir Dogar, who met the speaker at his chambers in the Parliament House.

Former opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan congratulated Achakzai on the appointment, saying he will “fulfil his responsibilities brilliantly”.

“Heartiest congratulations to Mahmud Khan Achakzai sahib, who has been officially declared as the ‘leader of the opposition National Assembly’,” he said in a post on X.

The appointment was a bone of contention between the PTI-led opposition and the government over the delay.  Achakzai has played a central role in shaping and leading various opposition political movements in Pakistan.  During General Ziaul Haq’s dictatorship, he was an active participant in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), where he allied with progressive and democratic forces to resist military rule, Dawn reported.  In the late 1990s, he co-founded the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONAM), uniting nationalist parties from smaller provinces to struggle for provincial autonomy and equal rights within the federation, it said.

Later, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), he joined mainstream political forces in opposing General Pervez Musharraf’s military regime and demanding free and fair elections.  More recently, Mehmood Khan was seen as a prominent figure in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a broad alliance of opposition parties formed to challenge authoritarianism, uphold parliamentary supremacy, and ensure the sanctity of the Constitution, it said.

In 2025, he launched the Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan, a new political platform aimed at uniting diverse political and social forces to safeguard the 1973 Constitution, strengthen democratic institutions, and promote civilian supremacy, the report added. PTI SH RD RD RD