LAHORE: The PTI on Saturday rejected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan’s assertion that the opposition leader’s office has become vacant in light of the Supreme Court’s reserved seats verdict and challenged him to formally denotify the current opposition leader.

At a press conference on Friday, Speaker Khan declared that Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar was appointed as the opposition leader with the backing of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). However, the speaker has not yet issued an official denotification.

The speaker notified Mr Bhachar as opposition leader on March 22. The notification stated: “Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 23A of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab 1997, I, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Speaker Provincial Assembly of Punjab, hereby declare Mr Ahmad Khan, MPA (PP-87, Mianwali) as Leader of Opposition in the provincial assembly of Punjab with immediate effect.”

Sheikh Imtiaz, PTI’s deputy chief whip in the Punjab Assembly, contended that the speaker appointed Mr Bhachar based on a recommendation signed by 107 opposition members on plain paper. “There was no mention of any party affiliation in either the application or the notification,” Mr Imtiaz noted.

Accuses Malik Ahmad of being ‘a pawn of the Sharif family’

He explained that Rule 23A mandates the speaker to notify the opposition members of the date, time, and place for submitting the name of the opposition leader. The rule specifies that the speaker must verify the majority of signatures before declaring the leader of the opposition.

Clause 3 of Rule 23A says: “The Speaker, after verification of the signatures of the members, shall ascertain the majority on the date, time and place fixed for submission of the name of Leader of Opposition and declare the member who commands the majority of the members of the opposition as Leader of Opposition.”

When contacted, Mr Bhachar said: “I am waiting with my fingers crossed that the Punjab Assembly speaker would denotify me as opposition leader.”

He insisted that Speaker Khan was making “hollow claims” and expressed confidence that the speaker would not denotify him.

“If the Punjab Assembly speaker had the authority to denotify me, the National Assembly speaker would have already done the same following the Supreme Court verdict and the consequent notification of reserved seats by the Election Commission of Pakistan,” Mr Bhachar said.

He added that even if denotified, the opposition members would sign the recommendation again, compelling the speaker to reappoint him.

Mr Bhachar accused the speaker of venting his anger against him and targeting him due to his refusal to “bow before” Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the Sharif family.

“The PTI will continue protesting inside and outside the Punjab Assembly for the release of party founder Imran Khan and other incarcerated workers,” he added.

When contacted, PTI Punjab Information Secretary Shaukat Basra said Speaker Khan “has reduced himself to the level of a pawn of the Sharif family”.

He sarcastically said the speaker had actually removed the opposition leader on June 28 — much be­­f­ore the implementation of the Sup­reme Court verdict — when he had got the opposition leader’s office locked and withdrawn staff, official vehicle and other privileges.

Mr Basra also accused the speaker of procuring luxury vehicles worth Rs180 million amid the country’s financial struggles.

He said the PTI was considering a no-confidence motion against Speaker Khan.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024