Pakistan's newly-elected Parliament holds maiden session; Speaker Ayaz Sadiq administers oath to new members

Islamabad: The maiden session of Pakistan’s newly-elected Parliament began on Monday with the outgoing speaker administering oath to 329 members as part of the process of transition and handing over powers to the new government. [caption id=“attachment_2639412” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the previous National Assembly, presided over the 15th Parliament’s session and administered oath to the new leaders in the 342-member lower house. The new members signed their presence in a register. President Mamnoon Hussain had summoned the maiden session of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, at 10 am in Parliament house on Monday, 19 days after Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party emerged as the single largest in the general elections. Prime minister-in-waiting and PTI chairman Khan and other prominent leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari were present in the Assembly for the oath-taking. The speaker announced that elections of the new speaker and his deputy will be held on 15 August. The PTI has nominated Asad Qaisar for speaker, while Opposition has named Syed Khurshid Shah of the PPP as the joint opposition candidate for the post. Earlier, the maiden session started with the National Anthem, followed by recitation from the Holy Quran. Khan looked prominent as he sat in the front row of the Parliament house close to the chair of the leader of the house, which he is eventually expected to take after formal election as prime minister. The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats in the 25 July elections. Its number increased to 125 after nine independent members joined it and final tally reached 158 after it was allotted 28 out of 60 seats reserved for women and 10 seats reserved for minorities. Party sources said that the list of the Cabinet has not been finalised but there is a general consensus that Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be the new foreign minister and Pervez Khattak the new interior minister. Asad Umar is expected to get the key post of finance minister. Khan is expected to appoint prominent businessman Abdul Razzak Dawood as advisor on finance. Dawood served in the Cabinet of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf. The election of the prime minister will be held after election of the new Speaker who will supervise the election of the premier. The PTI has nominated Khan for the top post and he is scheduled to take oath on 18 August at the President House. The combined opposition has nominated Shehbaz Sharif against Khan. The new government faces a strong opposition as the PML-N has a final tally of 82 seats, followed by the PPP with 53 and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) 15 seats. The three have joined hands and formed the combined Opposition. The PTI has the support of smaller parties including Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) with seven seats, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) five, Balochistan National Party (BNP) four, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) three, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) three, Awami Muslim League and Jamori Watan Party one seat each.