World News | Pakistan's Newly Elected Parliament Meets Amid Vociferous Protests by Pro-Imran Khan Lawmakers Against Vote Rigging

Islamabad, Feb 29 (PTI) Pakistan's newly-elected lawmakers were sworn in on Thursday during Parliament's maiden session amid vociferous protests by the supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan alleging massive vote rigging during the elections.

The National Assembly was summoned after President Dr Arif Alvi's initial refusal due to differences with the caretaker government over the issue of Khan's party-backed candidates not being allotted the reserved seats.

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The opening session of the 16th Parliament, headed by the outgoing Speaker of the previous Parliament, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, began after a delay of more than an hour.

The general elections were held on February 8 and the National Assembly should meet within 21 days after the day of polling, according to the Constitution.

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Ashraf administered the oath to the newly-elected lawmakers amidst unruly scenes as 71-year-old Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed lawmakers chanted slogans against alleged vote rigging in the February 8 general elections.

According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat later, the new parliament would elect the next Prime Minister on Sunday.

It stated that the candidates for the election of the Prime Minister will have to submit their nomination papers by March 2 and their examination will also take place at three o'clock on the same day.

Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) has announced the name of Shehbaz Sharif for the post of Prime Minister, who has the support of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and other parties.

On the other hand, PTI announced the name of Omar Ayub Khan as the candidate to compete against Shehbaz.

Earlier, outgoing speaker Ashraf administered the oath to at least 302 members out of a total strength of 336 because the Election Commission of Pakistan has not yet decided on the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which swelled its ranks after PTI-backed independently elected members joined it.

The new oath-taking lawmakers included PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PTI chief Gohar Ali Khan and its secretary general Omar Ayub Khan.

After taking the oath, the lawmakers signed the register roll of the National Assembly to officially become members.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI chief Gohar Khan said that PTI-backed lawmakers made it to the assembly despite hurdles.

“But the nation sent us into this house by supporting the call of ‘gulaami namanzoor [slavery unacceptable]'…Our symbol was taken, our leader was convicted in three cases […] but the nation has shown that the most popular leader of the country is the one and only Imran Khan,” he said.

He said that Parliament was incomplete as reserved seats had not yet been allocated to the SIC and urged the speaker to halt the election of the speaker and deputy speaker unless the PTI-backed members on reserved seats were sworn in.

The outgoing speaker announced that elections for the new speaker and deputy speaker would be held on Friday and adjourned the session which earlier delayed by one hour.

The delay was chiefly due to sloganeering by the PTI members as the speaker took time to bring the house in order.

The maiden session was summoned by President Alvi, a former close aide of Imran Khan, at the eleventh hour.

He had demurred from convening the assembly on the pretext that the house was still incomplete as reserved had not been allotted to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after PTI-backed independently elected members joined it.

Earlier, the NA Secretariat had summoned a session following the refusal of the president.

The maiden session was expected to be explosive as PTI alleged massive rigging in the election and vowed to raise its voice inside and outside Parliament.

As the session began, PTI-backed lawmakers chanted “Imran Khan Zindabad” and “Aayi, aayi PTI [PTI has arrived]”.

Later, when the Sharif brothers entered the house, the PML-N members chanted: “Sher aya, sher aya [tiger has arrived]”.

The PML-N members also shouted “Ghari-chor” [wristwatch thief] which was an apparent reference to the Toshakhana corruption case against ex-premier Khan. In response, PTI's Gohar and Ayub displayed banners, which read: “Release Imran Khan”.

Earlier, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was welcomed by party lawmakers when he entered the lower house as he made his comeback to Parliament after seven years when he had to step down as the premier following his disqualification in 2017.

Winning independent candidates Khan's PTI joined the rightwing SIC to receive the party's share of reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. Candidates of the PTI fought as independents after the party could not directly participate in the February 8 elections due to the non-allotment of its iconic electoral symbol - the cricket bat.

A five-member bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan began the open hearing on the SIC's plea seeking allocation of reserved seats and the counter-pleas filed against it earlier this week.

The PTI-backed independents won majority seats at the 266-member National Assembly in the February 8 general election. Since the election resulted in a hung Parliament, the PML-N and the PPP have struck a post-poll deal along with four other parties to form a coalition government, which may effectively end Khan's chances of returning to power. A party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly to form a government. Khan's party has rejected the attempts by the PML-N and the PPP to form a coalition government, warning that robbing its public endorsement by the "mandate thieves" will result in the worst political instability. Independent candidates - a majority backed by the PTI party -- won 93 National Assembly seats. The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)