The National Assembly of Pakistan has chosen Ayaz Sadiq of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as its new speaker on Friday. PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq secures 199 votes out of a total of 291 votes cast. This marks another term for Sadiq, who has previously served in the same capacity. He was elected over Malik Aamir Dogar of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The election process began with the outgoing Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, overseeing the voting. He instructed the assembly members to cast their votes in alphabetical order.
The position of deputy speaker is currently being contested by Ghulam Mustafa Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and SIC’s Junaid Akbar.
In contrast, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), declared on Thursday that his party would not participate in the election process for the National Assembly’s speaker, deputy speaker, prime minister, and president. Speaking to the press at Parliament House, he confirmed that JUI-F would serve as part of the opposition.
Addressing future protest plans, Rehman suggested that a formal announcement for action would be forthcoming, with an intent to “represent the nation soon.”
Moreover, the 16th National Assembly was inaugurated as 302 members out of the total 336 took their oaths on Thursday. The ceremony, led by Speaker Ashraf, experienced a delay due to disturbances caused by lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
