Islamabad:

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI and the Sunni Ittehad Council have jointly nominated his party leader Omar Ayub Khan as the leader of the opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

The PTI-SIC formalised the nomination by submitting his documents to the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Saturday, the Dawn newspaper said on Sunday.

Incidentally, Omar Ayub Khan was also the joint candidate who lost to Imran Khan’s rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s Shehbaz Sharif in the prime ministerial election last week.

About 90 candidates of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf joined the SIC after winning in the February 8 general elections as independent candidates to secure reserved seats.

The nomination papers were submitted by Malik Amir Dogar in the presence of SIC supremo Sahib­zada Hamid Raza, and members of the national assembly (MNAs) Ali Mohammad Khan, Riaz Fatyana, Dr Nisar Ahmad Jatt and others, the newspaper said.

Achakzai was the PTI-SIC’s candidate against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Asif Ali Zardari, who was on Saturday elected as the president. He took the oath on Sunday.

Responding to a question, Dr Jatt expressed the hope that Ayub would become the opposition leader in the NA through nomination, instead of election, on March 13 or 14.

The leader of the opposition enjoys the status of a federal minister. He gets a separate office, where usually opposition parties hold meetings.

The Public Accounts Committee is usually headed by the leader of the opposition.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Shehbaz Sharif, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), and Omar Ayub, the nominee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council, have both filed nomination papers for the position of Prime Minister of the country, reported ARY News on Saturday.

The nomination papers were received by the Secretary of the National Assembly.

A candidate must receive 169 votes in the 336-member parliament to be elected premier.

According to ARY News, PML-N and its allies, including the Pakistan People’s Party, claim to have enjoyed the support of over 200 lawmakers.

Whereas, independent candidates backed by Imran Khan’s PTI won the most MPs with 93 in the February 8 elections.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was elected as the 22nd speaker of the National Assembly (NA) on Friday.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf presided the National Assembly (NA) session to elect a new NA speaker. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) protested throughout the session, reported ARY News.

The speaker’s election was conducted via a secret ballot. The lawmakers voted one by one.

PML-N candidate Ayaz Sadiq received 199 votes, while Aamir Dogar from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) received 91 votes. Following Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s formal pronouncement, Sardare Ayaz Sadiq was sworn in as the next speaker of the NA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)