April 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429

LAHORE, April 8: Around 365 members-elect of the Punjab Assembly will take oath of their office in the maiden session of the house being held on Wednesday (today) under extraordinary security arrangements.

Outgoing speaker Afzal Sahi will administer oath to the MPAs elected of the 14th assembly.

Built in 1935, Punjab Assembly is the oldest legislature of the country. With 371 members, including women and minorities, it is also the largest house of the country.

The PML-N is leading in the house with 165 seats, followed by the PPP with 106 members. Both the parties are going to form a coalition government in the province as they did in the centre.

PPP MPA-elect Tanveer Ashraf Kaira says tabling of a resolution in the first session of the house seeking a UN probe into the assassination of party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has been finalized while a decision on tabling the resolution regarding seeking apology on "judicial murder" of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is likely to be taken in the joint parliamentary party meeting of the PPP and the PML-N before the session tomorrow (Wednesday).

SECURITY: Around 1,700 policemen and law enforcement agencies personnel women will perform security duties in and outside the Punjab Assembly building which has been declared the most sensitive.

Eight police reserves in uniform and three in plain clothes will be deployed on Wednesday.

Armed with sophisticated weapons, officials will take over positions on rooftops of Wapda House, Alflah Building, MPA Hostels for vigilance. Six squads of 12 motorcycles and four Elite Force vehicles will patrol in and around the assembly. Walk-through gates and metal detectors will be used at the entry points and all vehicles will be thoroughly checked before being parked.

Most of the adjacent roads of Punjab Assembly building will be closed to traffic by placing barricades and hurdles.