PTI's Asad Qaiser, Qasim Suri takes oath as NA speaker, deputy speaker

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Asad Qaiser and Qasim Suri were elected as the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly on Wednesday. Asad Qaiser of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Khurshid Shah, the joint candidate of the opposition were vying for the seat of the speaker whilst for the deputy speaker, the contest was between Qasim Suri of the PTI and opposition’s candidate Asad Mehmood. Asad Qaiser elected NA speaker after gaining 176 votes and Khursheed Shah got 146 votes. Qaiser took oath as the speaker administered by outgoing speaker Ayaz Sadiq, following which the election for the slot of deputy speaker held.A total of 330 votes were cast in the election for NA speaker, out of which 322 were accepted and eight were rejected. Opposition members from the PML-N chanted slogans during the oath-taking and displayed posters of their quaid Nawaz Sharif, who is serving sentence in prison following his conviction in Avenfield corruption reference. MNAs from the Pakistan Peoples' Party which is also sitting in opposition remained silent during this period. The counting is being carried out in presence of the polling agents of the contesting candidates. Election is taking place through secret ballot. Outgoing Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq chaired the session of the house. After the election of deputy speaker, newly elected NA Speaker Asad Qaiser administered the oath of Qasim Suri. Elected as deputy speaker Qasim Suri secured 183 vote while Asad Mehmood gained only 144 votes. Asad Qaiser, who previously served as speaker for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, won NA-18 Swabi I and PK-44 Swabi 2 constituencies on the PTI's ticket during the July 25 general election. Qaiser belongs to the Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and graduated from the University of Peshawar before moving on to a career in education. He joined the PTI in 1996, prior to which he was a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing. In the PTI, he served as district president of Swabi and provincial president of the party. Earlier, the outgoing speaker administered oath to five newly elected members who could not take oath at the inaugural session. Amongst the prominent figures who have so far cast vote include PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Asad Qaiser of PTI, Khurshid Shah, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and outgoing Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.