Asad Qaiser took oath as 21st Speaker of National Assembly

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)  Asad Qaiser elected as MNA from KPK, took oath as 21st Speaker of National Assembly today.

Asad Qaiser of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Khurshid Shah, the joint candidate of the opposition are vying for the seat of the speaker whilst for the deputy speaker, the contest is between Qasim Suri of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and the opposition’s candidate Asad Mehmood.

Asad Qaiser elected NA speaker after gaining 176 votes and Khursheed Shah got 146 votes. Qaiser took oath as the 21st speaker of National Assembly administered by outgoing speaker Ayaz Sadiq, following which the election for the slot of deputy speaker will be held.

The counting is being carried out in presence of the polling agents of the contesting candidates. Election is taking place through secret ballot. Outgoing Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is chairing the session of the house.

Asad Qaiser, who previously served as speaker for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, won NA-18 Swabi I and PK-44 Swabi 2 constituencies on the PTI’s ticket during the July 25 general election.

Qaiser belongs to the Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and graduated from the University of Peshawar before moving on to a career in education. He joined the PTI in 1996, prior to which he was a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing. In the PTI, he served as district president of Swabi and provincial president of the party.

Earlier, the outgoing speaker administered oath to five newly elected members who could not take oath at the inaugural session.

Amongst the prominent figures who have so far cast vote include PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Asad Qaiser of PTI, Khurshid Shah, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and outgoing Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.