Asad Qaiser, Agha Siraj, Mushtaq Ghani sworn in as NA, provincial speakers

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI (ENNS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) nominees Asad Qaiser and Qasim Suri were respectively elected as the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Qaiser was contesting against Khursheed Shah from the Pakistan Peoples Party. He received 176 votes whereas Shah got 146 votes; while eight votes got rejected.

A total of 330 votes were cast in the election for NA speaker, out of which 322 were accepted and eight were rejected. The PTI leader was administered oath by outgoing speaker Ayaz Sadiq amid protest by PMLN and MMA.

Opposition members from the PML-N chanted slogans during the oath-taking and displayed posters of party supremo Nawaz Sharif, who is serving sentence in prison following his conviction in Avenfield corruption reference. MNAs from the Pakistan Peoples Party which is also sitting in opposition remained silent during this period.

Suri was elected as the deputy speaker by securing 183 out of a total of 328 votes. His contender, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Asad Mahmood, managed to get 144 votes while one vote was rejected.

Later, Speaker Qaiser administered oath to newly-elected deputy speaker.

Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani (FP)

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly elected PTI nominee Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani as speaker. He secured the position with 81 votes.

Ghani’s rival, Awami National Party nominee Laiq Muhammad Khan, received 27 votes in contrast.

PTI’s Mehmood Jan defeated PML-N’s Jamshed Mohmand to claim the slot of deputy speaker. He received 78 votes, while his opponent got 30 votes.

Pakistan Peoples Party leader Agha Siraj Durrani was re-elected speaker of Sindh Assembly today. With 96 votes, he defeated MQM-P’s Javed Hanif (59 votes) to retain his post.

PPP’s nominee Rehana Legahri was elected as the deputy speaker of the assembly. She was contesting against PTI’s Rabia Azfar Nizami for the post.