Ayaz Sadiq elected speaker, Syed Ghulam Mustafa deputy speaker of National Assembly
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Joint candidates of PML-N and allies Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah have been elected as speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly, respectively, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Sadiq got 199 votes while Shah received 197 votes Sunni Ittehar Council's candidate Malik Amir Dogar managed to get 91 votes.
Shah’s opponent Junaid Akbar, from the PTI, secured 92 votes.
Later, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered oath of office to Ayaz Sadiq amid thunderous applause by the members present in the house.
Later, Sadiq held the election for the deputy speaker.
After the election, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to Shah.
Ayaz Sadiq greets Amir Dogar
After being elected as the National Assembly speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq greeted his rival Malik Amir Dogar by shaking hands with him and other MNAs from the opposition, including Latif Khosa. Outgoing speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf termed Sadiq’s gesture a “very good tradition” and a “democratic attitude”.
Later addressing the House, Ayaz Sadiq called on both the government and the opposition to work together for the betterment of the country. He praised his rival Malik Amir Dogar for playing his part in the democratic process. “Amir Dogar sahib, you have always given me respect and called me ‘Ayaz bhai’. God-willingly, I will prove to be an elder brother,” he said.
Ayaz Sadiq reiterated that the government and the opposition were like “two wheels of a car” and urged both sides to have differences only “for the betterment of the country”, and on personal basis.
He thanked his party supremo Nawaz Sharif, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and allies from other parties, including Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aleem Khan, and Khalid Magsi for extending support to him.
Form 47 stole PTI’s mandate, says Amir Dogar
In reaction, Amir Dogar said he would have received 225 votes today had Form 45 been used to compile results in general elections on Feb 8. “Form 47 stole our mandate, and 80 NA seats of ours were stolen,” he said, adding “Had they not been stolen, PTI would’ve been the single largest party in this assembly.”
Dogar praised PTI workers for contesting elections on various symbols allotted to them after the party was deprived of its iconic bat symbol by the Supreme Court.
Slogans as Nawaz arrives
Sunni Ittehad Council members chanted slogans as PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif arrived in Parliament House.
In order to counter opposition’s protest, PML-N members also raised slogans against Imran Khan and displayed watches as reference to Toshakhana case.
Earlier, Ishaq Dar welcomed Nawaz Sharif at parliament house. Meanwhile, to a query regarding JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman’s grievances, Nawaz Sharif said he would talk about the issue in a special sitting as this was not the suitable time to discuss such issues.
Unwell Shehbaz makes it to parliament
PML-N President and nominee for prime minister’s post Shehbaz Sharif reached parliament house late as he was not feeling well.
During the electoral process for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif was not feeling well. He quickly went back after casting his vote to Ayaz Sadiq.
Shehbaz Sharif was unable to even meet PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif. Sources said Shehbaz Sharif was suffering from flu and sore throat, and doctors had advised him complete rest.
The second session of the 16th National Assembly started with outgoing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the chair and the MNAs exercised their right through “secret voting”.
on Thursday, the National Assembly had issued a notification in connection with the election of the speaker and deputy speaker on Friday while the election for the office of prime minister will be held on Sunday.
PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Ghulam Mustafa Shah are the joint candidates of the allied parties for the office of the speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.
PTI-backed lawmaker Amir Dogar is the joint candidate for the slot of the NA speaker and Junaid Akbar is their candidate for the office of the deputy speaker.
On Thursday, the maiden session of the 16th National Assembly was held at the Parliament House in Islamabad in which newly-elected lawmakers took oath. Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered oath to the newly-elected MNAs amid noisy slogans raised by the supporters of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Chaotic scenes
As the National Assembly session proceeding kicked off on Friday, PTI-supported MNA Omar Ayub stood up from his seat and started speaking. Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf urged the PTI leaders to let the proceedings for the speaker’s election take place first. But, the PTI lawmakers raised slogans of “thief”, prompting the speaker to warn them that this is not the forum. “You can go to election commission and the court about this,“ he remarked.
The speaker’s snub to PTI leaders caused a commotion in the House as Omar Ayub raised a flurry of objections and speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf attempted to carry on with the proceedings.
“You have the right to object but don’t hinder the session. Let me complete the agenda,” Raja Ashraf said and added “If you don’t have a speaker you can’t have elections, can you?”
Let Imran Khan come into House: Omar Ayub
Later, the speaker spared a few minutes to Omar Ayub who said “The House is incomplete without women seats. How can you do this procedure? How can we run this House? Form 45 says one thing, Form 47 says something else. Let the rightful candidates come into this House, who had a rightful mandate. Let Imran Khan come into this House. We want justice. It’s in PTI’s name.”
Other PTI-backed lawmakers rallied around belligerent Omar Ayub and applauded him for his words.
Raja Ashraf then intervened and called for a return to the session’s agenda.
Earlier, PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan raised the point that the lower house of the Parliament was “incomplete” as the reserved seats had not been allotted to the Sunni Ittehad Council yet.
Gohar emphasised that speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was the custodian of the House. “You don’t belong to the party. You belong to this House. The point we are taking up, you should be taking up yourself and you would be assisting too,” he added.
Gohar argued, “Article 51 mandates that the House has to be in full, including the members reserved for women and non-Muslims. Before that, the House is incomplete.”
Reporters Awais Kiyani and Rozina Ali