Can Fazl be dark horse in race for post of opposition leader in NA?

ISLAMABAD: The issue of the leader of opposition in the National Assembly has pitted the government and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in a new confrontation.

The PTI-backed SIC had 92 members before the loss of one seat due to a recount on Gujranwala’s seat, which rendered its NA strength to 91. Despite the numbers, parliamentary sources believe the SIC does not qualify for the position as not a single MP was elected from the party’s platform and is not a parliamentary party. They further cite the fact that even SIC’s chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza won the election as an independent candidate.

Now the Peshawar High Court has also agreed with ECP’s stance on the reserved seats that the SIC is not a parliamentary party. According to NA Rule 5, the speaker has all the powers in this context, but the rules do not provide a time-frame to install one. This is in contrast to previous rules where the speaker was duty-bound to install the leader of the opposition within 14 days.

Interestingly, two groups have emerged within the SIC over the possible candidate for the mantle. One group on the instructions of Imran Khan backed Umar Ayub for the important position and they wrote to Speaker Ayaz Sadiq about it. Another group of the party is extending support to Asad Qaisar and has asked the speaker to rule in favour of their candidate.

The government has sought the legal position on the issue from the advocate general. With Wednesday’s decision of the Peshawar High Court, the government’s position that the slot cannot be given to the SIC has become strengthened.

The situation brings the speaker into focus who has the choice to offer the opposition leader to the next ‘larger’ opposition party in parliament, which happens to be Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUIF with 8 seats.

According to sources, in that case, Fazlur Rehman can be the possible leader of the opposition. Now the decision rests with Fazl. If he agrees, this would be the second time in his career, he would enjoy the position after being installed during General Musharraf’s presidential tenure.