Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday was elected unopposed as speaker of the National Assembly.
The seat fell vacant on April 3 after the resignation of Asad Qaiser who, hours before the Supreme Court’s deadline for the vote of no-confidence motion was to expire, addressed the assembly to announce the decision.
“I am liable to the Constitution and the most important demand of the oath is to protect the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan,” he said. The former speaker said that the then-cabinet had shared the alleged “threat letter” with him and asked the lawmakers to stand for the country’s sovereignty.
“I can no longer remain on the seat of the speaker and I resign,” Qaiser had said. He also said that he accepts the Supreme Court’s decision and asked former speaker Ayaz Sadiq to run the session.
Raja had submitted his nomination papers in the afternoon and no other candidate submitted their nomination papers resulting in the election of the PPP leader unopposed.
Meanwhile, a National Assembly session has been summoned which would be held at 12 noon tomorrow (Saturday).
The agenda of the day includes voting on the motion for the removal of Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri. Oath taking of Speaker-elect is also included in the agenda.
