Newly elected AJK legislative assembly members sworn in
PTI finalises names for speaker, deputy speaker slots
MUZAFFARABAD:
The newly elected members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) legislative assembly took oath of their new duties on Tuesday.
Speaker of the AJK assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir, administered the oath to the new members, including six women lawmakers.
President Muslim Conference Atiq Ahmed Khan and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) member Javed Iqbal did not take oath on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) finalised the names for the speaker and deputy speaker slots of the legislative assembly.
A day earlier, PTI clinched all three reserved seats – one each for Ulema and Mushaikh, overseas Kashmiris and technocrats seats to raise its strength in the 53-member house to 32. There were nine candidates from the three parties – PTI, PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – vying for the reserved seats.
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On Aug 1, PPP and PML-N agreed to field joint candidates for the slots of AJK prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker. The two opposition parties have been in touch for parliamentary cooperation in the assembly.
Sources said the two parties would cooperate for reserved seats. The PML-N and PPP will each secure a seat reserved for women. The sources added that the seat of the leader of the opposition would be bagged by the PPP.
PPP AJK President Chaudhry Latif Akbar said it was decided in a meeting with PML-N leader and former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider that the two parties would cooperate with each other.
“The PPP and the PML-N will work under a joint strategy,” he added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party emerged as the single-largest party after clinching 26 direct seats in July 25 elections. PPP came in second with 11 seats while the PML-N bagged six seats.