ISLAMABAD: Dr Mrs Ashraf Khatoon Abbasi was elected today [Aug 11] the [first] Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan under the Permanent Constitution. Mrs. Ashraf Abbasi, who was the PPP nominee … secured 98 votes against her rival candidate, Mrs. Jennifer Jehanzeb Musa, who secured 26 votes. Mrs. Jennifer Musa was the Opposition nominee.

A large number of members (21) did not take part in the voting. One of the voters cast a blank ballot paper. After Mrs Ashraf Abbasi was declared successful by the chair, she straightaway went to Mrs. Jennifer and both the ladies embraced amidst thumping of benches from both sides of the House. Mrs. Ashraf Abbasi then took the oath of office while standing on the dais.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Islamabad,] Khan Abdul Wali Khan, lea­­der of the Opposition in the National As­­se­mbly today [Aug 11] blamed the Government for defections from certain political parties and charged that all this was happening according to a plan. In a statement today, he said that the Government wanted to eliminate or at least neutralise all the political parties in the country starting with the legislatures and then extending to wider fields.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2023