A total of 353 legislators, elected to Punjab Assembly in the polls held on February 18, would take oath here on Wednesday. Speaker of the previous assembly Muhammad Afzal Sahi will administer the oath to the legislators. The total strength of Punjab Assembly is 371. The current Punjab assembly is 14th held after the creation of Pakistan.
The assembly would elect its 16th speaker and 18th chief minister during its deliberations in days to follow opening session. With stay order obtained on provincial assembly seat PP-82 elections have been postponed on seats of the provincial assembly PP-70, 99,141,154,171. A total of 10 provincial assembly seats PP-10, 59,107,118,124,219,229,243,258,277 have fallen vacant after the members-elect took oath as National Assembly members.
Saeed Akbar Khan was elected from PP-48 and PP 49 and Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mahmood from PP-292 and PP 295. In assembly proceedings, it is an established tradition that on the day of oath of legislators, nomination papers of speaker and deputy speaker are submitted. Election to these posts is held the second day after submission of papers to these slots.
The election to the post of chief minister would be held later on the date on which the Governor calls again the assembly session. The date of this session is yet to be announced. As regards party position, Pakistan Muslim League-N enjoys an accumulative strength of 161 members in the house. In general seats, the party has the strength of 121 male and six female members. On minority seats, the PML-N has four male seats.
The party has secured 30 reserved seats for women in the house. The other party having the second highest number in the house is Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian. The PPPP has a total of 103 seats in the house, including 81 general male and one female seats. The party's reserved seats for the women in the house remain at 19.
The PML-Q, which was the largest party in the 13th provincial assembly, has 83 seats, including 64 male and one female member on general seats, in the 14th assembly. Besides, PML-Q has secured one male and one female non-Muslim seats too. The total reserved seats for women of PML-Q in the current assembly numbers 16. Other parties that have their members elected in the new legislator are PML-F: four; Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA): two; and Independents: two.
In the opening session of the assembly, 400 policemen led by two superintendents of police and one senior superintendent of police would manage the law and order situation. The Assembly Secretariat has issued 100 passes to the guests. Cars of the legislators in lieu of stringent security measures would be parked 100 feet away from the assembly.
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