The Punjab Assembly (PA) will today elect its speaker as well as deputy speaker at its session which will be held at 4:00 PM, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.
Malik Ahmad Khan and Ahmad Khan Bhichar will be the PML-N’s and Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidates for the seat of speaker, while for the seat of deputy speaker, PML-N’s Zaheer Iqbal Chantar and SIC’s Moeen Riaz are the candidates.
On Friday, nomination papers of the candidates were accepted.
The newly elected representatives of the PA on Friday took the oath of office in the assembly’s maiden session, which was marred by an uproar and protests.
The reports of the arrest of a PTI-backed lawmaker added fuel to the fire.
The speaker had to adjourn the session for 45 minutes to restore order.
When the proceedings resumed, the speaker administered the oath to the members.
Panel of chairpersons
A four-member panel of chairpersons has been formed who are authorized, in their nomination order, to chair proceedings of the Punjab Assembly in the absence of speaker and deputy speaker on Friday. The panel, announced by the assembly speaker’s secretary in the following order, comprises: Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan — PP-179, Raheela Naeem — PP-304, Syed Ali Haider Gilani — PP-213 and Saima Kanwal — PP-260.
The elections for the Punjab Assembly speaker and deputy speaker will be held via a secret ballot in a session of the assembly tomorrow (Saturday).
The announcement was made by the PA speaker’s secretary after the newly elected lawmakers took oath for their new role. He said that the elections would be held under Rules 9 and 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997.
The secretary further said that the nomination papers have to be submitted to him before 5pm today. The scrutiny of the papers for the slot of the speaker will be done at 5:10pm while that of the deputy speaker’s slot will be done at 5:20pm.