Newly-elected NA members set to take oath in inaugural session today | Maqvi News

• Raja Pervez Ashraf to administer oath in maiden session.
• Speaker, deputy speaker to be elected tomorrow.
• House to vote for election of prime minister on March 4.

After much controversy and ambiguity surrounding the National Assembly’s session, the newly-elected lawmakers are set to take oath in the inaugural session of the 16th session of the lower house which is set to convene today at 10am in Islamabad.

The development comes as the convening of the assembly’s session, required to be held on the 21st day after the polls under Article 91(2) of the Constitution, was surrounded by uncertainty after President Arif Alvi had stressed the allocation of reserved seats before the session.

Geo News had reported that the president had neither rejected nor accepted the summary and only communicated his verbal response on the matter.

On Monday, in light of Alvi’s reluctance to summon the assembly session, the National Assembly Secretariat convened the session.

However, the president finally summoned the NA session after the political parties warned him of legal consequences.

It is pertinent to mention that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has allocated reserved seats to political parties, but it has not awarded reserved quota to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independent candidates joined the party.

A day earlier, the electoral body’s five-member bench, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja reserved the verdict on the petitions filed by SIC seeking the allocation of women and minority seats.

Assembly to elect its PM on March 4

As per the schedule, Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf would administer the oath to the newly-elected legislators, followed by the election of the new speaker and deputy speaker.

For the aforementioned coveted constitutional posts, aspiring candidates are required to submit their nomination papers before 12pm today — with the voting set to be held on Friday (tomorrow).

This would be followed by the election of the prime minister, for which the candidates are required to file their nomination papers on March 3, whereas the election for the country’s chief executive would be held next week on March 4 (Monday).

Sources say that the newly-elected prime minister is likely to take oath as the country’s chief executive on the same day.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has the backing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and others, has nominated Shehbaz Sharif as its candidate for the top office.

Whereas, the PTI has fielded Omar Ayub Khan as its candidate for the country’s premier.

Composition of lower house

The National Assembly comprises 336 members out of which 266 are elected whereas 70 seats are reserved for women and minorities. These reserved seats are allotted to the parties as per their strength in the house.

Moreover, 169 votes are required to be elected as prime minister. 

In light of this, Shehbaz seems to be in the pole position to secure the victory.