Former higher education minister Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and PPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani have been elected the speakers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh assemblies, respectively, DawnNewsTV reported.

Ghani, from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), polled 81 votes against 27 votes of Laiq Mohammad of the Awami National Party. Laiq had challenged the former as the representative of the joint opposition. The total number of valid votes was 108.

The presiding officer, PML-N MPA Sardar Aurangzaib Nalotha, administered the oath of office to Ghani, who was elected from PK-39 Abbottabad.

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Newly elected members of the KP Assembly then voted to elect the deputy speaker; the session was presided over by new speaker Ghani.

PTI's candidate Mehmood Jan won the election by bagging 78 votes in contrast to the 30 votes gained by Jamshaid Khan, a PML-N member who was fielded by the joint opposition.

A total of 109 votes were cast for the election of deputy speaker, with one ballot being rejected.

Speaker Ghani later announced that the election for the chief minister of KP will take place through secret ballot at 11am on Thursday. Nomination papers for the post could be submitted by 3pm today.

Agha Siraj's re-election

PPP's Agha Siraj Durrani has been elected the speaker of the Sindh Assembly for the third time.

Durrani bagged 96 votes against Jawed Hanif of the MQM-P, who obtained 59 votes. The number of total votes cast was 158 while three ballots were rejected.

The opposition parties — PTI, MQM-P, Grand Democratic Alliance, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal — have a combined strength of 68 members against PPP’s 96 in the Sindh Assembly as one of its members has opted for the National Assembly.

The MQM-P candidate for the speaker’s post was arrested early last month while contesting general election from the PS-95 constituency of Karachi by NAB for allegedly making illegal appointments.

Meanwhile, PPP’s Rehana Leghari was elected the deputy speaker of the provincial assembly after receiving 98 votes. PTI’s Rabia Azfar was the runner-up with 59 votes.

A total of 158 votes were cast for the deputy speaker's election, with one ballot being rejected.

Punjab MPAs-elect take oath

Meanwhile, members-elect of the 17th Punjab Assembly took oath on Wednesday. According to DawnNewsTV, 354 MPAs-elect were present in the house for the oath-taking.

The maiden session of the 371-strong house has a majority of new faces. Out of 297 general seats of the assembly, at least 188 have been occupied by those who were not part of the previous house and a majority of them are first-timers.

The election of the provincial assembly's speaker and deputy speaker will take place on Thursday (tomorrow). The nomination papers for the same can be submitted until 5pm today.

Balochistan Assembly speaker, deputy to be elected tomorrow

The election for the speaker and deputy speaker of Balochistan Assembly will take place on August 16 (tomorrow). The nomination papers for the two posts will be filed the same day.

Outgoing speaker Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani will administer the oath to the new speaker who will then conduct the election for the deputy speaker and administer the oath to the latter.

A six-party alliance led by the Balochistan Awami Party has already nominated former Balochistan chief minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo as its candidate for the post of speaker. However, the alliance has yet to announce the name for the slot of deputy speaker.

On the other hand, the BNP-Mengal and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal have yet to decide their candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker.