Leader of the Opposition (Pakistan)

The leader of the opposition (Urdu: قائد حزب اختلاف) is the people's elected politician who is, by law, the leader of the Official Opposition in Pakistan. The leader of the opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government. This is usually the leader of the second-largest political party in the National Assembly.

Leader of the Opposition of Pakistan
Incumbent Omar Ayub since 2 April 2024
Style	The Honorable (formal) Leader of the Opposition (spoken)
Member of	National Assembly of Pakistan
Reports to	Parliament of Pakistan
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Pakistan
Formation	7 July 1955, 63 years ago
First holder	Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy

The leader of the opposition is normally viewed as an alternative Prime Minister. There is also a leader of the opposition in the Senate, who is elected / nominated separately by the opposition members of the Senate of Pakistan.

Powers of the opposition leader

The leader of opposition has constitutional authority to consult with the elected prime minister for appointment of a caretaker prime minister. A caretaker prime minister is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and opposition leader.

They have constitutional authority to consult with the prime minister for appointment of the chief election commissioner and members of Election Commission of Pakistan. The president appoints the chief election commissioner and members after consultation with the opposition leader and prime minister.

The chairman of the National Accountability Bureau is appointed after consultation between the prime minister and opposition leader.

They also recommend names of two members of the National Assembly as members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan from opposition benches for appointment of judges of Supreme Court, High Courts and Federal Shariat Court.

List

A list of the leaders of the opposition before and according to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.^[1]

  Independent

  Pakistan Muslim League (N)

  Pakistan Peoples Party

  National Awami Party

  Awami National Party

  Pakistan Muslim League (Q)

  Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)

  Pakistan National Alliance

  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

	Leaders of the Opposition	Portrait	Starting term	Ending term	Political affiliation	Political ideology
1	Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy		7 July 1955	11 September 1956	All-Pakistan Awami League	Islamic socialism
2	I. I. Chundrigar		16 December 1957	1 October 1958	Muslim League	Pakistani nationalism
A	Fatima Jinnah		1 January 1960	9 July 1967	IND	Pakistani nationalism
3	Sardar Bahadur Khan		8 June 1962	21 August 1964	Pakistan Muslim League	Pakistani nationalism
4	Nurul Amin		12 June 1965	25 March 1969	Pakistan Muslim League	Pakistani nationalism
5	Khan Abdul Wali Khan		14 April 1972	17 August 1975	National Awami Party	Democratic socialism
6	Mufti Mehmood[1]		17 August 1975	5 July 1977	Pakistan National Alliance	Islamism
7	Syed Fakhar Imam		24 March 1985	29 May 1988	Pakistan Muslim League	National conservatism
(5)	Khan Abdul Wali Khan		2 December 1988	6 August 1990	ANP	Democratic socialism
8	Benazir Bhutto		6 November 1990	18 July 1993	PPP	Democratic socialism
9	Nawaz Sharif		19 October 1993	5 November 1996	PMLN	Pakistani conservatism
(8)	Benazir Bhutto		17 February 1997	12 October 1999	PPP	Democratic socialism
10	Fazal-ur-Rehman[2]		25 March 2004	15 November 2007	JUI (F)	Religious conservatism
11	Parvez Elahi[3]		10 April 2008	16 September 2008	PML(Q)	Conservatism
12	Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan[4]		17 September 2008	7 June 2013	PMLN	Pakistani conservatism
13	Khurshid Shah[5]		7 June 2013	31 May 2018	PPP	Democratic socialism
14	Shehbaz Sharif[6]		20 August 2018	10 April 2022	PMLN	Pakistani conservatism
15	Raja Riaz[7]		20 May 2022	10 August 2023	PTI	Welfarism
16	Omar Ayub[8]		2 April 2024	Incumbent	PTI	Anti-corruption

See also

• National Assembly of Pakistan
• Government of Pakistan
• Politics of Pakistan
• Pakistan