Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) dissident leader Raja Riaz Ahmad has become the Leader of the Opposition in the lower house of Parliament, with the support of 16 lawmakers, following the withdrawal of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)’s Moonis Elahi.
Speaker National Assembly (NA) Raja Pervaiz Ashraf issued notification of Riaz as being elected as the Opposition leader.
Earlier, Moonis Elahi withdrew his candidature as the Opposition leader, paving the way for a one-on-one contest between Ghous Bakhsh Mahar and Riaz.
In 2016, Raja Riaz quit the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after he decided to join PTI.
Riaz, who switched sides from PTI during the vote of no-confidence against the then Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, had previously announced that he would contest the next general election on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The Opposition leader’s seat fell vacant after Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister following the ouster of Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion vote.
