ISLAMABAD – The National Assembly will conduct secret ballot elections to select its speaker and deputy speaker today (Friday).
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the current NA Speaker, will oversee the proceedings and administer the oath to the newly-elected speaker once the results are announced. Subsequently, the newly-elected speaker will assume office, and Ashraf will step down.
Following the speaker’s oath, the new speaker will preside over the election for the deputy speaker without delay. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), primarily composed of PTI-backed independents, has nominated Malik Aamir Dogar for the speaker’s position and Junaid Akbar for deputy speaker. Conversely, allied parties have put forward Sardar Ayaz Sadiq from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Syed Ghulam Mustafa from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for the roles of speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.
The agenda for today’s session, shared on the social media platform X by the NA, includes the commencement of the meeting at 10am with recitations, followed by the swearing-in of members-elect and the election of the speaker and deputy speaker.
Expressing grave concerns over the outcome of the 2024 elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), announced his party’s decision to abstain from participating in the elections for key political positions, including president, prime minister, and NA speaker.
