Election for speaker expected as Ayaz Sadiq returns to NA

PTI decides to field Shafqat Mehmood against Sadiq

ISLAMABAD:

As the doors of the National Assembly open at 10am on Friday for a new session, all eyes will fall on deposed house speaker Ayaz Sadiq as he marks his return to the lower house as a member.

Sadiq had been unseated after his election from NA-122 was declared as null and void by an election tribunal on August 22. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan had challenged Sadiq’s election victory.



Despite having reservations over the tribunal’s verdict, Sadiq decided to contest the by-elections instead of moving the higher courts to seek a stay order. On October 11, he defeated PTI candidate Aleem Khan and sealed his return to the lower house.

The government, it seems, had been waiting for the by-election’s results to be confirmed before reconvening the National Assembly after nearly a three-month break. A week after the by-poll’s results were confirmed by the Election Commission, President Mamnoon Hussain on October 20 issued the notification for summoning the lower house for November 6 (today).

Before the session begins on Friday, National Assembly Acting Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi will chair a meeting of the house business advisory committee, comprising representatives of all elected parties, to decide on the issues which will be taken up during the session. Given the long delay in reconvening a session, a number of issues and bills are pending before the house.





The committee is also expected to finalise the schedule for electing a new speaker of the house. However, elections are not expected to take place on Friday since the committee is likely to accord time for filing of nominations and for the scrutiny of candidates.

The first order of the house would probably be for Sadiq and three others to take oath as MNAs. These include PML-N’s Babar Nawaz who was elected in by-polls from Haripur, Dr Sobia who is replacing Alizeh Iqbal Haider of the PPP on a reserved seat for women and Riazul Haq, who had been elected as an independent in the NA-144 Okara by-polls last month. The PML-N is expected to back Sadiq’s candidature.

PTI to contest

Though the PTI had lost the October by-polls against Sadiq, it has vowed to contest the election for National Assembly speaker. “The PTI has decided to contest the election of NA Speaker,” deputy parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media in Islamabad.The party will field its MNA Shafqat Mehmood against Sadiq.

Ayaz Sadiq leads NA-122 by-polls, unofficial results show

So far, the PTI is the only party which has announced that it will contest the speaker’s election.

MQM withdraws resignations

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Thursday filed an application in the office of the acting speaker of the National Assembly to withdraw its resignations from the house.

The party had sent their resignations on August 12, a day before the last session was prorogued, to protest against the government’s stonewalling of its genuine grievances over the Karachi operation.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2015.