ISLAMABAD – Newly elected representatives on Thursday took oath in the inaugural session of the 16th National Assembly amid ruckus and sloganeering by the PTI lawmakers.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Parvez Ashraf administered oath to the MNAs-elect, who later signed the toll of the lower house of the parliament.
The maiden session of the 16th National Assembly began after a delay of more than an hour as it was previously scheduled for 10 am.
Prominent figures who took the oath including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, PTI leader Ali Mohammad Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Senator Ishaq Dar and others were present in the guest gallery of the National Assembly.
MNAs belonging to the PTI and PML-N raised slogans against each other throughout the session, causing a ruckus in the assembly.
PML-N members chanted “Ghari-chor” while the PTI MNAs could be heard chanting “Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan. Imran Khan.”
Earlier, clouds of uncertainty overhung the session, which is required to be convened on the 21st day after the general elections under the Constitution, as President Arif Alvi had been stressing on allocation of reserved seats to the political parties before the NA sitting.
As the President had showed reluctance in summoning of the NA session, the National Assembly Secretariat convened the session on Feb 29.
However, the president finally summoned the NA session in late night move on Wednesday after the political parties announced to take legal action against him.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has awarded reserved seats for women and minorities to political parties, but it has not allocated reserved quota to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independent candidates joined it.
Reports said the session for electing the prime minister would be held on March 4. The PML-N has nominated Shehbaz Sharif for the post while PTI has fielded Omar Ayub.
