The National Assembly Secretariat on Friday confirmed the removal of Omar Ayub from the position of Leader of the Opposition, declaring the post vacant, Aaj News reported.
The Secretariat said the Speaker is expected to issue a notification for the appointment of a new Opposition Leader soon.
Several other parliamentary positions held by members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were also revoked. Zartaj Gul was removed as Parliamentary Leader, while Ahmed Chatha lost his role as Deputy Parliamentary Leader. The chamber allocated to the Opposition Leader has also been vacated.
Independent PTI members have been directed to nominate fresh candidates for the posts of Parliamentary Leader and Deputy Parliamentary Leader.
Ayub has also been delisted from the Public Accounts Committee and the Finance Committee.
In addition, the membership of 15 standing committees has been withdrawn from seven PTI members declared ineligible.
Sahibzada Hamid Raza was removed as chairman of the Standing Committee on Human Rights, Zartaj Gul was also dropped from the same committee, and Rai Hassan Nawaz lost his position as chairman of the Standing Committee on Railways.
Shibli Faraz de-notified as Senate opposition leader
Meanwhile, the post of opposition leader in the Senate was also declared vacant after PTI leader Shibli Faraz was de-notified from his position following his disqualification by the ECP.
According to a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat, Faraz’s disqualification is effective from August 5, 2025, resulting in the loss of both his Senate membership and his position as leader of the opposition in the upper house.
The ECP disqualified Faraz under Article 63 of the Constitution and formally terminated his parliamentary membership. His removal from the opposition leader’s post came after the Senate Secretariat acted on the ECP’s decision.
The development comes days after PTI leaders were disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after they were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in May 9 riot cases, and declared their seats vacant.
ATC Faisalabad on July 31 sentenced more than 100 members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party to prison terms on charges related to riots that targeted military installations in 2023, a court order seen by Reuters said.
Fifty-eight of the defendants, who included parliamentarians and senior officials, were sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the rest were given sentences ranging from one to three years, the court said.
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