The Pakistan National Assembly will elect its Speaker and Deputy Speaker on Monday, with two senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz nominated for the posts.
Secretary National Assembly has accepted the nomination papers of PML-N candidate Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the post of Speaker while Murtaza Javed Abbasi for that of Deputy Speaker, media reports said on Sunday.
Mr. Sadiq won National Assembly seat from NA-122 Lahore while Mr. Abbasi from NA-18 Abbottabad.
The National Assembly will elect its Speaker and Deputy Speaker on Sunday, while the leader of the house will be elected on Wednesday.
The main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) fielded Nawab Yousuf as its candidate for the office of the Speaker and Ghulam Rasool for Deputy Speaker.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has nominated Sheryar Afridi for the post of Speaker and Munazza Hasan for that of Deputy Speaker.
Nomination papers of MQM parliamentarians S.A. Iqbal Qadri and Kishwar Zehra for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively have also been accepted.
The nomination papers of all the candidates were declared valid and subsequently submitted in the National Assembly. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place on Sunday and the election for the posts will be held on Monday.
After Monday’s secret ballot, outgoing Speaker Fehmida Mirza will administer the oath to the new Speaker.
On Saturday, Mr. Sharif, the Prime Minister-designate, returned to the Assembly fourteen years after his last stint as a parliamentarian when he took oath with other lawmakers in the first democratic transition of power in the country’s 66-year history.
The election of the premier is scheduled for June 5, 2013 as Mr. Sharif’s election as leader of the House is a foregone conclusion with the PML-N’s over 180 members in the 342-strong National Assembly.
The first session of the 342-member National Assembly on Saturday marked the first phase of transition of power in Islamabad and in the four provinces following the historic May 11, 2013 general election.
