ISLAMABAD: Asad Qaiser of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been elected as 15th Speaker of the National Assembly with 176 votes after a stiff competition with Pakistan People Party’s Khursheed Shah who got 146 votes.
Announcing the name of new speaker, outgoing NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq said a total of 330 votes were polled, of them eight were rejected.
He said Mr. Qaiser received 176 votes, while Mr. Shah bagged 146 votes. Moments later, he administered oath to the newly-elected NA speaker Asad Qaiser.
“We will work in collaboration and take positive measures for the country with consultation from all parties,” said Qaiser.
“It is a great responsibility to serve as the speaker of National Assembly and I direct the staff of the parliament to work with utter honesty.”
He further urged all members of the National Assembly to participate fully during upcoming sessions of the lower house and serve Pakistan above their personal interests.
The new speaker of the House reached the opposition benches after taking oath and shook hands with opposition leaders including Bilawal Bhutto, and Khursheed Shah who were seated in a front row.
The opposition alliance, mainly lawmakers from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, chanted slogans and created ruckus as the new Speaker took oath. While the PPP legislators didn’t join their ally and remained unmoved.
Earlier, the newly-elected MNAs cast votes for their desired candidates through a secret ballot.
Outgoing speaker Ayaz Sadiq presided over the session. The newly elected MNAs including prime minister-in-waiting Imran Khan were also present in the House.
Qasim Suri elected as Deputy Speaker
Qasim Khan Suri from the PTI was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
He received 183 votes while the united opposition candidate Asad Mehmood bagged 144 votes. There were 328 votes cast while one vote was rejected.
Qasim Suri hails from Balochistan and had won from NA-265 constituency in Quetta. He said served as the party’s head in Balochistan.
The election process
The newly-elected MNAs cast their vote for speaker of the Lower House through a secret ballot. In the first round, the outgoing speaker chairs the session and supervises polling process for election of the new Speaker. During the polling, no one is allowed to take a photograph of their vote.
Once all the votes have been cast, the speaker will announce that the polling process has concluded. Votes will then be counted in the presence of both candidates and their polling agents. Once the results are compiled, the speaker will proceed to announce the results.
The outgoing speaker will then administer the incoming speaker the oath office. The same process will be repeated to bring in the new deputy speaker. The new speaker will supervise the election of the deputy speaker.
According to details, it is a one-on-one contest, with four candidates are in the race for the slots of speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who emerged as the largest party in July 25 elections, had fielded Asad Qaiser, former speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly against Syed Khursheed Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
PTI backed candidates and the opposition alliance nominees had submitted their papers on Tuesday for the election of top slots of the lower house.
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