Mr Khan’s PTI-backed independent candidate secures absolute majority (File)
Peshawar:
Babar Salim Swati and Suriya Bibi, independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, were sworn in separately for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Va.
Mr. Swati, 62, was elected from PK-37 Mansehra-II constituency in the February 8 provincial elections in which he polled 89 votes, while Pakistan People’s Party candidate Ehsan Ullah Khan ) received 17 votes.
Similarly, 40-year-old Suriya Bibi, who won from PK-1 seat in Chitral, secured 87 votes in the election to win the deputy speaker’s seat.
With 18,914 votes, Suriya defeated JUI-F’s Shakeel Ahmed, who got only 10,533 votes to become the first in Chitral’s history. A woman elected to an at-large seat.
Outgoing Speaker Mushtaq Ghani presided over the oath-taking ceremony of the new managers of the House of Representatives.
Chief Minister-designate Ali Amin Gandapur will be sworn in as the leader of the House at the KPK Assembly on Friday.
The swearing-in ceremony for the speaker and deputy speaker came a day after newly elected North Korean Communist Party members of parliament were sworn in on Wednesday.
The Corruption Eradication Commission Parliament has a total of 145 members, including 10 women and 4 ethnic minorities elected through reserved seats.
The allotment of reserved seats is yet to be notified as the matter is currently pending before the Election Commission of Pakistan.
In the February 8 election, Mr Khan’s PTI-backed independent candidates won an absolute majority in the provincial assembly with 90 seats, forming a third consecutive independent government in the restive province.
PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to secure seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
The SIC is an alliance of Islamic political and religious parties in Muslim-majority countries, representing followers of the Sunni sect of Islam.
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