PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has summoned the maiden session of the new provincial assembly on Monday (August 13) for the swearing-in of its members.

A notification issued here on Thursday said the elections for the offices of the speaker, deputy speaker and chief minister would take place during the inaugural session.

The proceedings will begin at 10am.

Members to take oath, elect CM, speaker, his deputy in maiden sitting

Outgoing Speaker Asad Qaisar will administer the oath to the members-elect.

After the oath-taking ceremony, the desiring candidates will file nomination papers for the offices of the speaker and deputy speaker the same day.

An official of the assembly secretariat said the submission of nomination papers would continue until 4pm and any candidate could withdraw his nomination papers until 11pm Monday.

He said the elections for the speaker and deputy speaker would take place on August 15 through secret ballot.

Under Article 53 of the Constitution read with Article 127, the assembly shall, at its first meeting and to the exclusion of any other business, elect from amongst its members a speaker and a deputy speaker.

Under Rule 8(2) of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, the election for the speaker shall be presided over by the outgoing speaker and he will administer oath to his successor.

Later, the newly-elected speaker will oversee the election of the deputy speaker and will administer the oath to the deputy speaker. The filing of nomination papers for electing leader of the house will take place the same day.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, which had won the July 25 general elections with absolute majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nominated the MPA-elect from Swat Mahmood Khan as leader of the house on Wednesday.

As for the current position of the parties in the 124-strong house, the PTI has won 65 seats, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal 10, Awami National Party seven, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz five, Pakistan Peoples Party four and independents six.

The Election Commission of Pakistan is likely to notify members on the seats reserved for women and religious minorities on Friday.

The election in two constituencies, including PK-78, Peshawar, and PK-99, Dera Ismail Khan, has been postponed due to the assassination of candidates Haroon Bilour of the ANP and Ikramullah Khan Gandapur of the PTI in suicide attacks during canvassing.

Sources said four MNA-elect of the PTI, including former chief minister Pervez Khattak, outgoing speaker Asad Qaisar, former minister for revenue Ali Ameen Gandapur and Dr Haider Ali Khan, were likely to vacate their provincial assembly seats to retain their National Assembly seats.

“These four MNAs-elect will vacate their KP Assembly seats,” said an insider.

Mr Khattak, who failed to become the chief minister for the second consecutive tenure, has won two PA seats from Nowshera, his home district.

Meanwhile, the PTI and opposition have yet to nominate candidates for the office of the speaker and deputy speaker.

Sources said the crucial meeting of the PTI would take place in Peshawar on Thursday night to discuss the nomination of candidates for the offices of the speaker and deputy speaker.

Chief Minister-designate Mahmood Khan will chair the meeting to be held at the Speaker’s House, where senior party leaders, including some MPAs-elect, will be in attendance.

The opposition parties have yet to nominate joint candidates for the slots of speaker and deputy speaker.

PMN-N MPA-elect Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha told Dawn that the opposition parties would nominate candidates for the two positions the day after members took oath.

He said the opposition would not leave the field open for the PTI and field a joint candidate against PTI nominee Mahmood Khan.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2018