ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly session to elect the country’s 24th prime minister today (Sunday) is underway as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif is ready to take over the premiership for the second time.
The session, which is being chaired by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, was scheduled to begin at 11am today, however, it faced a minor delay. The voting will take place through the division method.
Ahead of the elections today, the bells in the National Assembly rang for five minutes to gather all the members into the assembly.
After five minutes, all the doors of the House were locked and no one is allowed to come inside or leave before the election of the leader of the House.
Following this, the NA speaker will read out the names of the candidates vying for the PM slot and then will announce the formal commencement of the election.
As per the division method, the speaker will allocate the right lobby for one nominee and the left lobby for the other. The lawmakers will then go to their preferred lobby to vote for their candidate.
The MNAs will cast their votes at the door of the lobby and once they vote they will exit the hall and won’t be able to come back to the House.
The speaker will announce the completion of the voting process and will summon the voting list. After this, the bells will be rung for two minutes for members to return to the House from the lobby.
After this, Speaker Sadiq will announce the election results of the Leader of the House.
Candidates
Shehbaz, who is also the joint candidate of seven allied parties, is a clear favourite in the one-on-one contest against Omar Ayub Khan, who is the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — the party which was joined by winning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) affiliated candidates after the February 8 elections.
NA Speaker Sadiq accepted the nomination papers of both candidates. To win the premiership, either candidate will have to bag 169 votes in the 336-strong assembly.
According to The News, PML-N Shehbaz, who is expected to become the prime minister for the second time, is likely to receive over 200 votes as he has the backing of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Istehkam-e-Pakistan (IPP) and National Party (NP) apart from his own party which combine to form a strength of 205 members.
Shehbaz earlier remained in the Prime Minister’s Office from April 11, 2022, to August 14, 2023 (one year and 125 days). He was elected as prime minister of Pakistan after a successful no-confidence motion against the then-prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, the SIC candidate, Omar, is expected to get around 92 votes. He would get the support of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who has also been nominated by the SIC as its candidate for the president’s slot.
So far, 304 lawmakers have taken oath while the notification of 23 reserved seats for women and minorities has been withheld by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The nomination papers of Shehbaz Sharif were proposed by MNAs Syed Khursheed Shah, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf Zaman, Attaullah Tarar, Abdul Aleem Khan and seconded by MNAs Romina Khursheed Alam, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Ahsan Iqbal, Kessoo Mal Kheel Das, Anusha Rahman Khan, Hanif Abbasi and Jamal Shah Kakar.
Meanwhile, the nomination papers of Omar were proposed by MNAs Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Asad Qaiser, Riaz Khan Fatyana, Umair Khan Niazi and seconded by MNAs Mohammad Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, Ali Khan Jadoon, Mujahid Ali and Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar.
Omar had raised objections with Speaker Sadiq over the acceptance of Shehbaz’s nomination papers, saying that he was “gifted the seat as a result of manipulation in Form 47”.
He said that the PM’s nominee was ineligible to become the premier, however, his objections were rejected.
Sources have revealed that the SIC parliamentarians are preparing to lodge another strong protest in the House and they have planned to bring the portraits of the PTI founder to the National Assembly hall.
On the other hand, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) will boycott the polls.
Kakar to welcome Shehbaz at PM House
Official sources said Caretaker PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar would welcome the new premier on his arrival at the Prime Minister’s House.
Kakar has vacated the PM House, but he will continue to perform his duties as premier till the issuance of notification of the new chief executive of the country. He has been allotted a house in the Minister’s Enclave.
Kakar remained the caretaker PM for the longest period of 200 days. The previous record was held by Muhammad Mian Soomro, who remained the caretaker PM from March 25, 2013 to June 4, 2013.
The PM House is getting ready to welcome the new chief executive of the country on Monday, a day after the election of the premier, who is also the Leader of the House in the National Assembly.
Officials said that arrangements for the presentation of a guard of honour and to welcome the new PM are being made for Monday in view of predicted clear weather after a spell of rains.
