Islamabad, August 8, 2025: The National Assembly has stripped three senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders of prominent parliamentary roles following their disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the May 9 cases, sources said on Friday.
Omar Ayub has been removed as Leader of the Opposition, while the positions of Parliamentary Leader and Deputy Parliamentary Leader, previously held by Zartaj Gul and Ahmad Chattha respectively, have also been declared vacant.
The development follows the ECP’s de-notification of several PTI lawmakers after their convictions by a special anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad. The court had sentenced 108 individuals out of 185 accused, acquitting 77 others, including former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry, Zain Qureshi, and Khayal Kastro.
The NA speaker informed the House of the disqualifications under assembly rules. Consultations are under way between opposition members and the speaker to nominate a new opposition leader, while PTI-backed independents will submit fresh nominations for other vacant posts.
Omar Ayub has also been removed from the finance committee of the Public Accounts Committee, and membership of 15 standing committees has been withdrawn from seven disqualified PTI lawmakers.
Among the changes, Sahibzada Hamid Raza lost his position as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Human Rights, Zartaj Gul was removed as a member of the same committee, and Rai Hassan Nawaz was removed as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Railways.
