Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal has appointed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Matia Mahal legislator Shoaib Iqbal as the pro tem Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Iqbal, who has been elected to the Seventh Delhi Assembly for what will be his sixth term as an MLA, will oversee the oath-taking of the newly-elected members of the 70-member Assembly here on Monday.
According to the list of business for a three-day Assembly session to commence here on February 24, the new Speaker is scheduled to be elected after the oath-taking ceremony.
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“Whereas the office of the Speaker will fall vacant immediately before the commencement of the first meeting of the Seventh Legislative Assembly of Delhi on February 24, 2020 and the office of the Deputy Speaker has already fallen vacant...” the gazette notification stated.
“Now, therefore, I hereby appoint Shoaib Iqbal, a member of the newly-elected Legislative Assembly, to perform the duties of the Office of the Speaker from the commencement of the said meeting and until the new Speaker is elected...” the notification stated.
Mr. Iqbal, who first got elected on a Janata Dal (United) ticket and became a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly in the year 1993 remained a member till 2013 before he lost the Assembly elections conducted that year to the then AAP Matia Mahal candidate Asim Ahmed.
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According to a government source, outgoing Speaker and Shahdara MLA Ram Niwas Goel is most likely to be re-elected.
“The motion for the election of the Speaker will be given to the Secretary of the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Saturday; the election of the Speaker will be held from 2 p.m. onwards on Monday,” the source said.