Ayaz Sadiq takes oath as MNA; Speaker to be elected on Monday

ISLAMABAD: Former Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq along with Dr Shazia Soomro, Riazul Haq Juj and Babar Nawaz Khan Khan were sworn in as Members of the National Assembly on Friday.

Sadiq was welcomed by lawmakers when he reached the Lower House of Parliament, and they applauded by thumping their benches after he took oath.

The National Assembly was meeting here at the Parliament House with the Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi in the chair. Besides other legislative business, the Deputy Speaker will announce the schedule for the election of the Speaker which will be held on November 9 (Monday). Nomination papers for the election of the Speaker will be submitted on Sunday.

Sadiq was re elected from the NA-122 seat after defeating Aleem Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the by-election held on Oct 11.

The three other MNAs who were sworn in included Riazul Haq Juj, a former independent candidate who joined the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) after winning the NA-144 Okara by-poll, Haripur's NA-19 by-poll winner PML-N's Babar Nawaz, and Dr Shazia Soomro who was elected to a reserved seat for women.

According to sources, the PML-N has nominated Ayaz Sadiq for slot of NA Speaker again.

The PTI has also announced to contest for the speakership and has nominated Shafqat Mahmood for the post.

Meanwhile, senior Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah has said that the party will not field any candidate to contest the election of the Speaker if the PML-N nominates Sadiq as its candidate.

According to the sources, the PML-N has the support of majority of the parliamentary parties and its nominated candidate is expected to be re-elected as National Assembly Speaker.