National Assembly’s newly elected lawmakers take oath

ISLAMABAD: The newly elected members of the National Assembly took oath on Thursday and vowed to work for the betterment of people and the strengthening of democracy in the country.

The maiden session of the assembly began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran which was followed by the swearing-in of the members, the official news agency reported.

National Assembly’s outgoing speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered oath to the lawmakers-elect.

The speaker then asked all the legislators to proceed to the speaker’s desk to sign the roll of members in alphabetical order.

PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, PPP’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Asif Ali Zardari and Yusuf Raza Gilani, JUI-F’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PTI’s senior leader and former NA speaker Asad Qaiser and Omar Ayub Khan, and IPP’s senior leader Abdul Aleem Khan were all present in the assembly for the oath-taking.

Meanwhile, the outgoing NA speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf announced the schedule for the elections of the speaker and deputy speaker’s slots on Thursday.

The elections for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker are scheduled to take place on Friday (tomorrow).

According to Article 53 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the National Assembly is mandated to elect a speaker and deputy speaker at its first meeting following a general election, with the process taking precedence over any other business.

The voting process will be conducted through a secret ballot, with the candidate receiving the majority of votes being elected as the new speaker of the House.

Subsequently, the new speaker will announce the schedule for the deputy speaker’s election, which will follow the same procedure as the secret ballot.

Strict security measures were implemented to ensure the safety of the session, with heavy contingents of police and Rangers deployed outside the Parliament House, and entry for unauthorised individuals onto the premises was prohibited.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif has nominated Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the position of NA speaker and Bilawal has nominated Ghulam Mustafa Shah as the candidate for deputy speaker.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has nominated Aamir Dogar for the position of speaker while PTI’s Junaid Khan will contest for the post of deputy speaker.