ISLAMABAD: The issue involving the lingering appointment of the opposition leader in the Upper House of the Parliament finally stood resolved on Tuesday after Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani issued a ruling to declare Raja Nasir Abbas as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
Presiding over the Senate session, Gilani, in his ruling, announced that Abbas secured the support of 22 out of 32 opposition senators. He directed the secretary Senate to issue the notification regarding Abbas’s appointment as the opposition leader.
The said notification was issued forthwith. The chairman Senate’s detailed ruling elaborated on the context — litigation and procedural requirements — that caused the slot of the opposition leader to remain vacant after Shibli Faraz, the then opposition leader, was disqualified from his legislative membership by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on 5 August last year.
PTI’s Faraz was convicted by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in a 9 May violence case following which the electoral body de-seated him as a senator.
“I am a loyal companion of Imran Khan,” said Abbas, who belongs to Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), in his maiden speech in the House as the opposition leader.
He said that scores of innocent prisoners were languishing in jails due to false cases against him. Abbas mentioned incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders including Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhary and Omar Sarfraz Cheema, who, he said, were innocent and unjustly put behind the bars.
“Are they terrorists?” he asked.
Imran Khan’s wife, the opposition leader said, is also innocent and kept in jail unjustly.
He asked the Senate to play its role in securing the release of innocent political prisoners, and demanded that the government announce a general amnesty for the political prisoners.
“If Army Chief goes back to his domain, we all will salute him — nobody has the right to put people in jails without any reason — only politicians can rule Pakistan,” the Senate opposition leader said.
Regarding the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he asked, “Isn’t it injustice to displace people from their homes only to track down a few terrorists?”
Terrorism cannot be eliminated without the support of local people, he said, adding that injustices in Balochistan, KP and Sindh were fuelling public anger.
“People need to be healed — for God’s sake, this Parliament should feel for them — that’s why tyranny is taking place, that’s why people are being implicated in false cases,” Abbas said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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