NA session to elect new speaker, deputy speaker marred by ruckus | Maqvi News

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly session summoned to elect the new speaker and deputy speaker is underway amid protests by Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmakers.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is chairing the session till a new speaker is elected. 

Once the elections for the speaker are held Ashraf would swear in the newly-elected custodian of the House.

After the oath-taking, the new speaker will then take charge of the house forthwith. Ashraf will, subsequently, step down from his position. 

The new speaker will conduct the election of the deputy speaker immediately after taking charge.

The candidates

The SIC, which comprises mostly of PTI backed independents that won the elections, has nominated Malik Aamir Dogar as its candidate for the speaker and the political party has submitted nomination papers of Junaid Akbar for the post of deputy speaker. 

Whereas, the allied parties have nominated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Syed Ghulam Mustafa as candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.

Today’s session

Before the session started SIC’s parliamentary party meeting was held in the house’s lobby, where they vowed to continue their protest in the assembly.

This is the second consecutive day that SIC has been protesting in the National Assembly over rigged results.

As the session began, Speaker Ashraf asked if there were any new members present who had missed the oath-taking a day earlier. 

As no new members came forward, the speaker then gave the floor to SIC’s Omar Ayub Khan to speak on a point of order. 

The lawmaker alleged foreigners were present in the house. 

“People who got fake mandate have entered the house, hence, they should be expelled,” said Omar, adding that “prisoner number 804”, the number assigned to PTI founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail, should be brought to the Assembly.

JUI-F boycotts

Raising serious reservations over the 2024 election results, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that his party would not participate in the elections for the top political slots — president, prime minister, and the National Assembly (NA) speaker.

The JUI-F leader, speaking to journalists in Islamabad Thursday, said his party would sit in the opposition and its lawmakers would abstain from voting during the upcoming electoral events in the assemblies.

In response to a question regarding JUI-F’s strategy for a protest movement, he said: “Wait for it. We will represent the nation soon.”.