PML-N's Ayaz Sadiq elected speaker of the National Assembly

Ayaz Sadiq beat two other nominees for the position.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member Ayaz Sadiq has elected as the speaker of the National Assembly with 258 votes, reported Express News on Monday.

PML-N nominee Sher Ali Gorchani was elected as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nominee Shaharyar Afridi received 31 votes in total, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)'s nominee SA Iqbal Qadri received a total of 23 votes.

Ayaz Sadiq's oath was administered by outgoing speaker Fehmida Mirza.

The outgoing speaker Fehmida Mirza congratulated the new speaker and said she was content with her service in the past tenure. She thanked the president, all politicians and media institutions for their cooperation during her time as speaker of the National Assembly.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq thanked all members of the assembly for having faith in him to handle the honourable position. In his address after taking the oath he said, "I hope we will all work towards the betterment of Pakistan. I expect the members of the national assembly to cut down their expenses to help the government. I also expect that expense transactions will be scrutinized and made transparent for all."

PTI nominated Shaharyar Afridi for the post of speaker, and Munazza Hassan, an MNA on a reserved seat for the slot of deputy speakers.

MQM had fielded SA Iqbal Chaudhry for the seat of speaker, and an MNA from reserved seat, Kishwar Zehra, as deputy speaker.

PPP nominated Mirpur Khas’ Nawab Yousuf as speaker and Ghulam Rasool Koreja for the post of deputy speaker but PPP withdrew the nominations last minute on PML-N’s request.

Outgoing speaker Fehmida Mirza presided over the voting.

Oath-taking

The national assembly began its session on Monday with an oath taking ceremony of those members that were not able to take oath during its first session on Saturday.

The oath was administered by the outgoing speaker of the National Assembly Fehmida Mirza for the members including Jamshed Dasti, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Shagufta Jumani.

The National Assembly is occupied by around 190 first time MNAs and will witness the return of some veteran politicians.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz holds a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly.