PTI candidate Asad Qaiser elected as Speaker National Assembly

PTI candidate Asad Qaiser elected as Speaker National Assembly
PTI candidate Asad Qaiser on Wednesday elected as Speaker of National Assembly. (AP/file photo)
Updated 15 August 2018
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PTI candidate Asad Qaiser elected as Speaker National Assembly

PTI candidate Asad Qaiser elected as Speaker National Assembly
  • Asad Qaiser, nominated by PTI chairman Imran Khan, secured 176 votes while Khurshid Shah, the joint opposition’s candidate for the slot, secured 146 votes
  • Qaiser’s victory denotes Khan has significant majority in the House to be elected as Prime Minister on Friday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly elected Asad Qaiser as the new Speaker of the House on Wednesday.
Qaiser was nominated for the slot by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) against the 11-party joint opposition’s Khurshid Shah.
The victory denotes Khan has significant majority in the House to be elected as the next prime minister whose swearing- in ceremony is scheduled to be held on Aug. 18.
The election for leader of the House — the Prime Minister — will be held on Friday.
Qaiser won the election, securing 176 votes against Shah, who bagged 146.
He served earlier as Speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the province where the PTI was in power for five years from 2013 to May 2108.
Soon after the outgoing speaker called Qaiser to take oath of his office, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers chanted slogans on the floor of the House in favor of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and raised the party’s election campaign slogan “vote ko izzat do” (Honor the vote).
The PML-N and other opposition parties have already refused to accept the July 25 election results, alleging poll rigging.
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected the allegations.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani took oath as Speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Peshawar on Wednesday after winning the slot.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which emerged as the majority party in Sindh, had its nominated candidate, Agha Siraj Durrani, elected as Speaker of Sindh Assembly.
The PTI bagged maximum seats in elections and formed a coalition with small political parties and independent candidates to form its government in the center and three out of the country’s four provinces.