16th National Assembly: Newly elected 302 MNAs sworn in a ruckus-marred maiden session

Newly elected MNAs were sworn in Thursday’s ruckus-marred maiden session of the 16th National Assembly.

Outgoing NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered the oath to the members elected in the Feb 8 general elections.

Following the oath ceremony, the 284 members of the NA signed the role of member register.

The election for the new speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly will be held tomorrow.

Prominent politicians who were sworn in as MNAs included PML-N supremo and former premier Nawaz Sharif, ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Further, three Senate members — PML-N’s Nuzhat Sadiq, JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani — resigned from the upper house of Parliament to join the National Assembly.

PTI leaders, some of whom have joined the assembly under the banner of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), were also sworn in.

These PTI leaders included Barrister Gohar Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, Omar Ayub Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat.

During the members’ signing, the SIC lawmakers started chanting “qaidi number 804” the number given to PTI founder Imran Khan in the Adiala jail where he remains incarcerated since August 2023.

In response, the PML-N members started shouting “ghari chor” (watch thief) in the House. 

Today’s session was originally scheduled to start at 10 am but was delayed by more than an hour.