Vote count begins to elect National Assembly Speaker
Outgoing speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is chairing the session.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The second session of National Assembly commenced on Wednesday during which polling for the election of the Speaker of the House was held.
Newly elected lawmakers went into secret balloting to elect the NA speaker. Vote count is currently underway in the House to identify the victorious candidate.
Outgoing speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is chairing the session and will administer oath to the new speaker who will supervise the election of the deputy speaker for the Lower House of Parliament.
The session begun after a delay of more than half-an-hour due to late arrival of MNAs. As the session begun, oath was administered to five MNAs-elect who did not attend the first session.
Lawmakers belonging to various political parties, including prime minister-in-waiting Imran Khan and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, are present in the Lower House of Parliament for the election.
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Imran Khan and Bilawal Bhutto seated during NA session. --- Dunya News screengrab
PTI chairman forgot to bring his NA registration card with him and was objected by the polling agent of PPP. However; Ayaz Sadiq intervened and permitted Khan to cast his vote.
Amongst the prominent figures who cast vote include Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Asad Qaiser of PTI, Khurshid Shah, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Candidates in run for speaker, deputy speaker
For the slot of speaker of National Assembly (NA), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser will lock horns with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khurshid Shah.
Likewise, PTI’s Qasim Suri will face challenge of JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman’s son Asad Mehmood for slot of deputy speaker.
The nomination papers of all candidates have been approved after thorough scrutiny.
PTI enjoys support of its allies including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party (M), Grand Democratic Alliance, Awami Muslim League (AML), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) and Jamhoori Watan Party.
After allotment of reserved seats for women and minorities by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PTI’s tally in NA stands at 151. Adding seats of MQM-P, GDA, AML, BAP and BNP-M, the tally soars to 175. Two independent candidates have also assured PTI of their support.
On the other hand, opposition’s candidates enjoy support of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Awami National Party (ANP). Combining seats of grand alliance, opposition can manage to secure votes somewhat around 150.
Incumbent speaker Ayaz Sadiq will administer oath to his successor. After this, new NA speaker will conduct voting for deputy speaker under his supervision.
