LAHORE, Nov 24: Some 358 members-elect of the Punjab Assembly will take oath on Monday.
Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, the speaker of the dismissed 1997 assembly and the PML-Q candidate for the office of chief minister, will preside over the session. The new speaker and his deputy will be elected on Wednesday. Chaudhry Pervez has been nominated by the governor to preside over the inaugural session which will be prorogued following the election of speaker and deputy speaker.
Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool will also take the oath of his office under the 1973 Constitution at the Governor’s House only hours before the inaugural session. LHC Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry will administer the oath.
Authorities said on Sunday that all arrangements have been made to welcome the elected representatives who would enter the assembly after three years.
The main political parties and alliances have already named their leaders in the House but none of them has announced its candidates for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker.
Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has been declared as PML-Q’s leader of the House. The PPP will be led by Qasim Zia, the PML-N by Rana Sanaullah Khan, the MMA by Asghar Gujjar, and the National Alliance by Husain Jehanian Gardezi.
The new chief minister of the province is expected to be elected on Friday and take the oath of his office the same day. Another session of the provincial legislature will be convened for the purpose of ascertaining the leader of the House.
The notification convening the new session is likely to be issued on Wednesday after the election of speaker and deputy speaker.
Nomination papers for the election of speaker and his deputy will be received and scrutinized on Tuesday. They will take the oath soon after their election.
The present PML-Q dominated 371-member strong assembly is the largest of all the past 12 provincial legislatures. It has 297 members elected on general seats. The women MPAs elected indirectly on reserved seats are 66, while eight members have been elected on reserved seats for non-Muslims.
