LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s (PML-N) Rana Mohammad Iqbal was sworn in as Speaker Punjab Assembly after he was elected as speaker of the provincial assembly by securing 297 votes earlier on Monday, his contender Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Raja Rashid Hafeez bagged 35 votes.
While the PML-N’s Sher Ali Gorchani was elected as Deputy Speaker of Punjab Assembly by obtaining 279 votes.
As many as 342 members of the Punjab Assembly voted earlier in the day to elect candidates to the offices of speaker and deputy speaker in the second session of the house.
The PML-N, which enjoys two-thirds majority with 305 MPAs in the house of 371, had fielded Iqbal for the speaker’s office, while pitching Sher Ali Gorchani from Rajanpur district for the deputy’s slot.
The PTI with 26 MPAs had fielded Raja Rashid Hafeez for the office of speaker, giving the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) with nine MPAs a chance to put its nominee, Waqas Moakkal, for deputy speaker slot.
The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) with seven MPAs had earlier decided to take part in the polls for both seats but later revised the decision.
Earlier, candidatures of all the four nominees were accepted by assembly secretary Maqsood Ahmed Malik after scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Iqbal had vowed to serve the house with impartiality and to come up to the party leadership’s expectations.
