An important milestone was the victory of Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan in the Punjab Assembly Speaker’s election. During the Saturday night session, Khan received a dominant 224 votes, out of the total 327 cast.
With 96 votes, Ahmed Khan Picher of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) took second place, demonstrating the difficult electoral environment in the legislature.
After being elected, Khan took office and assumed the oath of office swiftly, assuming responsibility for the Punjab Assembly Speaker position.
The now-former speaker Sabtain Khan presided over the meeting during which the election process was conducted. Participating in the voting process, all 327 members helped elect the Speaker in a democratic manner. Nonetheless, political fervor permeated the assembly gathering as both sides exchanged vehement chants against one another.
The election for the deputy speaker’s seat is the next item on the agenda. Mohammad Moinuddin Riaz from SIC and Malik Zaheer Iqbal Chunar from the PML-N are running for the role.
Three specially dedicated booths made voting easier for the members under the guidance of Assembly Secretary Aamir Habib. Members from different constituencies were accommodated in the booths, guaranteeing a methodical and equitable electoral procedure.
Notably, the PML-N has a sizable field of candidates, which heightens the election’s competitiveness. The previous day was the occasion where 321 out of 371 members of the Punjab Assembly took their oaths.
With 193 members, the PML-N now holds the majority in the province parliament. The Sunni Ittehad Council is the second-largest party, with 98 members. The Punjab Assembly also includes five members of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), ten members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), thirteen members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and one representative from each of Tehreek-e-Labbaik and Pakistan Muslim League-Ziaul Haq.
Being the largest elected house in the nation, the Punjab Assembly has 371 seats, divided into 297 regular seats and 74 reserved seats (66 for women and 8 for minorities).
42 reserved seats for women and 5 reserved seats for minorities have been notified by the ECP thus far.
Elections for 296 general seats were held on February 8; however, one seat’s polling was postponed because of an untimely death of a candidate.
It is important to remember that the province was left without a legislature for more than a year after the previous assembly was dissolved in January 2023.
Maryam Nawaz was the PML-N’s nominee to be the next prime minister. Maryam would be the nation’s first female chief minister if she were elected.
The PML-N says it has enough seats to form a government, even though PTI-backed independents in a few Punjabi seats have challenged the election results.
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