Newly elected members of the 16th National Assembly (NA) were sworn in on Thursday in a session marred by sloganeering.
Outgoing NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered the oath to the MNAs-elect. The session was originally scheduled to begin at 10am but was delayed by more than an hour.
According to a spokesperson for the NA, 302 members were sworn in out of a total strength of 336. It should be noted that the Election Commission of Pakistan has not yet decided over the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Notable politicians who were sworn in 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 in order to join the National Assembly.
PTI leaders, some of whom have joined the assembly under the banner of the SIC under the party’s bid to secure reserved seats, were also sworn in. These included Barrister Gohar Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, Omar Ayub Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat.
Following the oath, the outgoing speaker announced that elections for the NA speaker and deputy speaker would be held tomorrow. The session was later adjourned till Friday, 10am.
It should be noted that today’s session marked PML-N supremo Nawaz’s comeback to Parliament after seven years; he had stepped down as the premier following his disqualification in 2017.
‘Incomplete house’
After the newly elected lawmakers were sworn in, the outgoing speaker allowed PTI’s Omer Ayub Khan to make a brief speech over the latter’s insistence.
“I want to thank the people of my constituency NA-18 and my leader Imran Khan,” Ayub said. He stated that PTI-backed MNAs wanted to register their protest.
“The oath we have taken today, it clearly states that we will follow the rules and the law […] but at this point, the house is incomplete,” he said, highlighting that several PTI-backed women lawmakers who had won seats in the February 8 general elections were languishing in jail.
Subsequently, Ayub urged the speaker to allow Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to speak on the matter of reserved seats. While Ashraf initially expressed reluctance, he later allowed Gohar to make a brief speech and said that he wanted to “set a good tradition in the house”.
At the outset of his speech, Gohar said that PTI-backed lawmakers made it to the NA despite “all impossibilities”. He recalled that the party was not allowed to hold rallies and conventions. “But the nation sent us into this house by supporting the call of ‘gulaami namanzoor [slavery unacceptable]’.
“You become the public’s representatives only when you respect their mandate,” Gohar said, claiming that the PTI had submitted before the Election Commission of Pakistan that it had a strength of 180 members in the NA.
“Our symbol was taken, our leader was convicted in three cases […] but the nation has shown that the most popular leader of the country is the one and only Imran Khan,” he stated.
No person can sneak into this house without a public mandate,” the PTI leader said, pointing towards the treasury benches where the PML-N and PPP leaders were sitting.
He further highlighted that the NA was “incomplete” as reserved seats had not yet been allocated to the SIC. Gohar then urged Ashraf to halt the election of the speaker and deputy speaker unless the PTI-backed members on reserved seats were sworn in.
The outgoing speaker then granted PML-N leader Khawaja Asif time to speak. Referring to Barrister Gohar’s demand, the former federal minister said the SIC had not submitted a list of its members on reserved seats before the ECP.
Asif then took off his wrist watch and waved it an apparent reference to the Toshakhana reference against Imran Khan. Throughout this time, PTI-backed lawmakers chanted pro-PTI slogans.
Sloganeering
Shortly before the session began, PTI-backed MNAs-elect chanted “Imran Khan zindabad” and “Aayi, aayi PTI [PTI has arrived]”.
In response, when Nawaz and Shehbaz entered the assembly, members of their party greeted the two with slogans of “Sher aya [tiger has arrived]”. The two were also met with pro-PTI chants as some MNAs-elect held up posters featuring pictures of PTI founder Imran Khan.
Shortly before the session was about to begin, outgoing NA speaker Ashraf urged the MNAs-elect to take their seats. He emphasised that their first task was to “become members” of the lower house.
However, sloganeering continued in the assembly even after the oath-taking, mainly by MNAs belonging to the PML-N and the SIC.
PML-N members shouted “Ghari-chor” [wristwatch thief] an apparent reference to the Toshakhana case against ex-premier Imran Khan while the SIC MNAs chanted “Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan. Imran Khan”.
After taking the oath, the MNAs proceeded to sign the NA roll of members. When it was the turn of PTI’s Gohar and Ayub, they held up banners in favour of Imran, which read “Release Imran Khan”.
