The National Assembly will elect Speaker and Deputy Speaker on Monday (today) for the next 5-year term with opposition parties unable to bring unanimous candidates against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates. The nomination papers submitted by the candidates were declared valid by Secretary National Assembly after scrutiny.
The division among the opposition parties was explicitly evident after Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP), Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) decided to separately contest the election of speaker and deputy speaker.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of PML-N filed nomination papers for the office of speaker and Murtaza Javed Abbasi for Deputy Speaker.
A four-way contest would be for the two offices among the candidates of PML-N, PPPP, PTI and MQM. The PPP, which has emerged as second larges party in 2013 elections with 39 seats in National Assembly, has fielded Nawab Yousuf as its candidate for the office of speaker and Ghulam Rasool Koreja for deputy speaker.
The PTI, which has clinched 35 seats and third largest political party in National Assembly, has fielded Shahryar Afridi as party's contestant for the office of speaker and Munazza Hassan for deputy speaker. The MQM fielded S.A. Iqbal Qadri for speaker and Kishwar Zehra for deputy speaker.
Talking to the media after filing nomination papers‚ Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said he would take the entire house along in conducting the proceedings and expressed the hope that the elected members would actively participate in the proceedings of the house to resolve the issues of common man. Sadiq said he would maintain impartiality in conducting business of the house.