Newly elected MPAs take oath in KP Assembly
PESHAWAR – Newly elected lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly took oath on Wednesday, the third of four provincial assemblies to hold a session since the Feb. 8 general elections.
KP assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered oath to the newly elected lawmakers.
The oath-taking session saw ruckus caused by PTI workers in the assembly. PTI workers chanted slogans against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Sobia Shahid.
As many as 113 newly-elected members, who have been elected to the assembly on general seats, took oath in Wednesday’s session.
The KP Assembly consists of 145 members however 30 seats reserved for women and minorities have not been notified as the matter is currently being heard by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The Assembly has 26 reserved seats for women and four for minorities.
Meanwhile, elections were postponed on two general seats owing to the deaths of candidates in the respective constituencies.
Once the oath was administered, Speaker Ghani announced that the election for the speaker and deputy speaker of the House would be held tomorrow (February 29).
The newly elected representatives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies will be sworn in on Wednesday, February 28, as the governors of both regions called assembly sessions.
As per the schedule announced by the secretariat of KP Assembly, the MPA-s elect will come at 11 am. The process to elect new speaker will start after oath-taking.
Nomination papers for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker can be filed till 5 pm.
In Balochistan, the newly-elected representatives will also take oath today. The session will be presided over by Zamrak Khan Achakzai due to unavailability of speaker.
During the oathing-taking ceremony, Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party and the political alliance announced to hold protest.
As per the agenda issued by the Balochistan Assembly secretariat, newly-elected members of different parties will take oath of their office during the assembly session.
At least 61 lawmakers will take oath during the session.
Earlier, Mir Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti and Prince Agha stepped down from Senate to take oath as members of the Balochistan Assembly.
The election of new speaker and deputy speaker will be held later for which the assembly will announce the schedule after the oath-taking ceremony.