ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The newly elected members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly took the oath of office administered by outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar on Monday.
With the oath of 46 members, the constitutional and parliamentary activities of the newly elected assembly have formally begun.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged as the largest party in the House with 32 members, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) holds 14 seats.
However, seven seats remain vacant as elections have yet to be held in the constituencies of Poonch and Sudhnoti districts.
Sources said that the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker is expected tomorrow. The final approval of the names of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be given by PML-N President Nawaz Sharif.
For this, PML-N has called a meeting of its parliamentary party for 9 am tomorrow, party sources said.
Reserved seats election
The swearing-in ceremony was held after the election of eight reserved seats, in which PML-N bagged six while the PPP won two seats.
Among the five seats reserved for women, PML-N’s Sehrish Qamar, Maryam Zaman and Maryam Idrees were elected, while the PPP’s Farzana Yaqoob and Zubia Khurshid secured the remaining two seats.
PPP’s Zubia Khurshid and PML-N candidate Riffat Abid had secured five votes each on the women’s reserved seat, following which Zubia Khurshid was declared successful through a draw.
Furthermore, PML-N’s Pir Mazhar Saeed Shah was elected to the Ulema-i-Din or Mashaikh seat, while PML-N candidate Barrister Iftikhar Gilani secured the Technocrat seat.
PML-N’s Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain was elected unopposed to the seat reserved for Overseas Kashmiris. He was the only candidate to have submitted his nomination papers for the seat.
Total strength in the House
So far, 38 out of 45 members have been elected through direct polls, while elections for five seats in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district have not been held due to the law and order situation.
Out of the elected, the PML-N has secured 25 seats while the PPP has won 12.
Following the election of the reserved seats and the joining of the lone MLA-elect of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu party, PML-N’s total strength in the Assembly increased to 32 seats, while the PPP has 14 members.
Despite the seven vacant seats in Poonch and Sudhnoti, the process of government formation is continuing.
With the newly elected members having taken the oath, the next phase will include the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and the formation of a new government.
