ISLAMABAD: The inaugural session of Pakistan’s new National Assembly was held Monday at the Parliament House in Islamabad, marking the county’s third consecutive democratic transition.
The simple but graceful ceremony commenced with the national anthem, followed by recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an.
The outgoing Speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, administered the oath to the newly elected members in a brief ceremony.
He also read out the procedure for the election of the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly, to be held on Wednesday. The nomination papers for these slots can be submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat by 12 noon tomorrow.
All those who took the oath individually signed the roll in alphabetical order to be the members of the house. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari was the first one to sign the roll, reported Radio Pakistan.
Prominent among the oath takers were Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan; President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Mian Shahbaz Sharif; PPP Co-Chairperson and former President Asif Ali Zardari; and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The new National Assembly will also elect the leader of the House, who will be sworn in on Aug. 18.
The PTI claims to enjoy the backing of 180 lawmakers in the 342-seat assembly. PTI chief Imran Khan needs 172 votes to become the new prime minister.
He will be challenged by PML-N president Sharif, who is fielded as the joint opposition’s candidate for the slot.
The country’s new National Assembly came into being a day ahead of Pakistan’s Independence Day on Aug. 14, celebrations for which are already in full swing with a firework show later on Monday to mark the eve of the big day.
Pakistan’s 15th National Assembly holds inaugural session
Pakistan’s 15th National Assembly holds inaugural session
- Pakistan witnessed its third consecutive democratic transition on Monday in an orderly fashion
- The elections for speaker and deputy speaker of the House will be held on Wednesday
Imran Khan not a ‘national security threat,’ ex-PM’s party responds to Pakistan military
- Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Friday described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat”
- PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan says words used by military spokesperson for Khan were “not appropriate”
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday responded to allegations by Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry from a day earlier, saying that he was not a “national security threat.”
Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), spoke to journalists on Friday, in which he referred to Khan as a “mentally ill” person several times during the press interaction. Chaudhry described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat.”
The military spokesperson was responding to Khan’s social media post this week in which he accused Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
“The people of Pakistan stand with Imran Khan, they stand with PTI,” the party’s secretary-general, Salman Akram Raja, told reporters during a news conference.
“Imran Khan is not a national security threat. Imran Khan has kept the people of this country united.”
Raja said there were several narratives in the country, including those that created tensions along ethnic and sectarian lines, but Khan had rejected all of them and stood with one that the people of Pakistan supported.
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by Raja, criticized the military spokesperson as well, saying his press talk on Thursday had “severely disappointed” him.
“The words that were used [by the military spokesperson] were not appropriate,” Gohar said. “Those words were wrong.”
‘NATURAL OUTCOME’
Speaking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif defended the military spokesperson’s remarks against Khan.
“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said.
“The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”
Khan, who was ousted after a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, blames the country’s powerful military for removing him from power by colluding with his political opponents. Both deny the allegations.
The former prime minister, who has been in prison since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, also alleges his party was denied victory by the army and his political rivals in the 2024 general election through rigging.
The army and the government both deny his allegations.
