Pakistan
PML-N’s Malik Ahmed Khan elected as Punjab Assembly speaker
The newly elected speaker bagged 224 votes while his rival candidate of Sunni Itehad Council Ahmed Khan Bhachar could get 96 votes.
Lahore: Malik Ahmed Khan, a prominent figure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), emerged victorious as the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly on Saturday.
During the secret balloting process, Malik Ahmed Khan secured 224 votes, defeating his contender Malik Ahmed Khan Bhachar, who was nominated by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Bhachar managed to gather 96 votes, while two votes were discarded during the counting process.
A total of 327 members exercised their voting rights to elect the speaker. However, no decision was reached concerning the 27 reserved seats of the provincial assembly, and 16 members abstained from voting.
The elections for the speaker and deputy speaker were conducted via a secret ballot following Rules 9 and 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, 1997. Nomination papers were submitted by PML-N's Malik Ahmad Khan and Malik Zaheer Iqbal Channer for the respective positions.
Contrarily, the Sunni Ittehad Council nominated Ahmad Khan Bhachar and Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz for the roles of speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.
Following the announcement of the election results, outgoing Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan administered the oath to Malik Ahmed Khan. PML-N's nominee for the Punjab Chief Minister position, Maryam Nawaz, congratulated Malik Ahmed Khan on his victory.
The session of the provincial assembly commenced with a delay of one hour and thirty-three minutes. Upon Maryam Nawaz's arrival in the hall, members of the Sunni Ittehad Council raised slogans against the PML-N leadership.
In retaliation, PML-N leaders chanted slogans against the PTI leadership, leading to verbal confrontations among assembly members. During the session, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Khalil Tahir Sindhu of the PML-N were observed encouraging party leaders to voice slogans against the PTI founder.