News
Saturday, March 15, 2008
MNAs-elect to take oath under 1973 Constitution: speaker
* National Assembly speaker considering meeting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to discuss oath-taking
Daily Times Monitor
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain said on Friday that NA members-elect would take oath in accordance with the Constitution of 1973, as no change had been made in the oath-related clauses of the constitution, Geo News reported. Amir told Geo News that he would administer the oath. After the oath-taking ceremony, the session would be adjourned until March 19, he said, adding that the nomination papers for the post of NA speaker would be received on March 18. “The election of the NA speaker will be held on March 19 and the new speaker will take the charge on the same day,” the channel quoted him as saying. He said there would be secret balloting for the post of NA speaker and that the votes would be counted in the presence of the representative of each candidate. “In the case of more than two people contesting for the post, the candidate getting least votes will be eliminated. The remaining candidates will again contest through secret balloting until only two candidates remain in the field, and the one who has more votes than the other will be declared the winner,” he said. He said the same process of balloting would be adopted for the position of NA deputy speaker, adding that the maiden session of the NA would be held solely for the purpose of oath taking by the MNAs-elect and the of speaker and deputy speaker. He said the session would be adjourned indefinitely but could be called again within a day or two. PML-N: Amir said that he was considering calling a representative of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to discuss the oath taking, because the PML-N had decided not to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order. Amir told the channel that he would request all MNAs-elect not to cause a commotion in the house in order to give a good impression to the people of Pakistan and the world. Separately, he told Dawn News that a parliamentary resolution to reinstate sacked judges would not be binding on the government, because a resolution only expressed the will of legislators. Regarding amendments to the oath-related provisions in the constitution, he said the oath had remained same since 1973 except for the addition of one sentence in 1985.
Courtesy Daily Times