Speaker, Deputy Speaker of NA to be elected today

Islamabad: Polling for the election of the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly will be held today (Friday), while the Prime Minister will be elected on March 3.

According to the details, 302 out of 336 members of the National Assembly took oath in the tumultuous session of National Assembly yesterday.

In the very first session of the 16th National Assembly, members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and members of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) raised harsh slogans against each other in front of Speaker Dice.

After coming to the House, PML-N leaders and former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif shook hands with Pakistan Peopels Party (PPP) leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.

The members of the PTI-backed SIC also threw masks at Nawaz Sharif and shouted slogans in favor of PTI founder Imran Khan, while the members also waved pictures of Imran Khan while signing the roll of members.

PPP leader Asifa Bhutto also raised slogans while Asif Zardari was signing. During the session, Bilawal Bhutto met Jamat-e-Ulema-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and Akhtar Mengal present in the House. While Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Asifa Bhutto also met in the gallery and both hugged each other.

On the other hand, talking about the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the House, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan of PTI said that the Speaker cannot be elected until the Assembly is completed. The people's representative can be elected only when the people's mandate is obtained. According to the mandate, our number in the National Assembly is 186.

PTI leader Umar Ayub stated that our women members on reserved seats are in jail, they were not brought for the session.

On the other hand, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, head of JUI-F, announced a boycott of the election of Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Prime Minister.

Maulana Fazl said that this assembly does not represent the people, they will not use their votes and will sit in the opposition.

The Awami National Party (ANP) has also decided not to be a part of the parliamentary election, while Isfandyar Wali Khan has said that ANP members will not be a part of the election process in any assembly and senate.