ISLAMABAD: Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief and National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai has firmly refused to resign from his position, rejecting a reported demand from a high-level Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) committee.
According to sources, Achakzai was asked to step down as opposition leader during an extended meeting of the PTI Core Committee. However, Achakzai reportedly stated that he would resign immediately if the person who nominated him for the position, currently imprisoned at Adiala Jail, personally asked him to do so.
Achakzai, the sole parliamentary representative of PkMAP from Quetta, was appointed Leader of the Opposition by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in January this year. He was nominated for the position by PTI founder Imran Khan, who remains in prison in connection with various cases. PTI does not currently have a formal parliamentary presence in the National Assembly, according to the information provided.
Political observers have also noted that Achakzai did not participate in a recent long march led by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Reports subsequently emerged regarding the end of PTI’s 13-year rule in the province.
Sources further indicated that PTI-affiliated members had significant internal disagreements over the strategy for the long march and the choice of its destination.
