National Assembly session adjourned till 19 March
ISLAMABAD: The 13th National Assembly session, which opened here Monday, has been adjourned till 19 March 11AM (Wednesday). The oath taking of the newly elected members of the National Assembly was completed in which 328 members of the house took oath. The nomination papers for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker will be received till 12:00 noon tomorrow (Tuesday). The election for the offices will be held on March 19. The proceedings of the house started 45 minutes late than the scheduled 11:00 am. After recitation of the holly Quran Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Hussain on request of Naveed Qamar said though the members have not yet took oath and were not entitled to speak but using his powers he is allowing him to speak. Syed Naveed Qamar before oath taking said that the members of PPP and allied parties would take oath under the un-amended unanimously passed constitution of 1973. “Under which constitution the members will take oath,” he inquired from the speaker. The speaker replied that the newly elected members would take oath as given in the IIIrd schedule of the 1973 constitution. After the speaker’s explanation 328 elected members of the house took oath. Before the oath taking the house observed one-minute silence to pay respects to assassinated former prime minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. After pray for Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the speaker directed the secretary of National Assembly to call the members for signing the assembly roll. Asia Nasir was the first MNA who signed the roll, than Sardar Asif Ali signed the roll. After which the members were called alphabetically and they signed the assembly roll. 121 members of People’s Party, Muslim League (N) 91 members, ANP’s 13 members, 51 members of Q-League, 25 members of MQM, six members of MMA, five members of Functional League and 19 independents attended the assembly session. Co-chairman Pakistan People’s Party Asif Ali Zardari, Muslim League (N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif witnessed the house proceedings from the guests’ gallery.
