GILGIT, Dec 10 Members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) took oath and formation of a government began here on Thursday.

The oath was administered by the outgoing speaker of the assembly, Malik Mohammad Miskeen.

Members who took the oath were Syed Raziuddin Rizvi, Didar Ali, Aftab Advocate, Mohammad Ali Akhtar, Mirza Hussain, Wazir Baig, Syed Mehdi Shah, Sheikh Nisar, Raja Azam, Aga Mohammad Ali, Wazir Hassan, Wazir Shakil, Bashir Ahemd, Haji Janbaz Khan, Haji Rehmat Khaliq, Haji Gul Bar, Abdul Hamid, Naseer Khan and Mohammad Ayub.

Dr Ali Madad Sher, Mohammad Ismail, Mufti Abdullah, Mohammad Jaffar, Jamil Ahmed, Mutabiat Shah, Maulana Sarwar Shah, Sadia Danish, Mehnaz Wali, Yasmin Akhtar, Shereen Fatima, Gul Mira and Amna Ansari.

The outgoing speaker in his short speech said that the people had chosen the members to work for the welfare and uplift of the people while keeping their differences aside.

Senior civil servants and notables of the area witnessed the first session of the assembly.

With administration of the oath, government formation has begun and now elections for speaker and deputy speakers would be held on Friday while elections for the chief minister would also be held on the same day.

Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Karia, who is due in the capital city Gilgit, would administer oath to the chief minister, Syed Mehdi Shah, who has been named for the office by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the single largest party with 20 members in the assembly.

PML-Q candidate Mirza Hussain is also a candidate for the chief minister but it has two members in the 33-member house (election on LA-19 is yet to be held). However, the JUI-F has retired from the election process being a part of the PPP coalition.