The inaugural session of the 16th National Assembly saw newly elected members taking their oath of office on Thursday. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the outgoing NA Speaker, presided over the session and administered the oath to the members.
Prior to the oath-taking, MNAs-elect were observed arriving at the Parliament House. During the process, amidst the signing by the newly elected members, supporters of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), to which the PTI independent candidates had joined, began chanting slogans of “Qaidi no 804”(Prisoner no 804).
In a notable sight, PTI-backed lawmakers wore masks resembling Imran Khan as they participated in the inaugural session of the 16th National Assembly.
Shahid Khattak, representing the Sunni Ittehad Council as an MNA from Karak, expressed his party’s commitment to “continue our constitutional struggle” aimed at securing the release of PTI founder Imran Khan from incarceration.
Later, Speaker Ashraf adjourned the session till 10am tomorrow (Friday) following a ruckus.
The session was being held today under Article 91 (2) of the Constitution with President Arif Alvi refusing to sign an earlier summary for summoning the session on the reported grounds of non-allocation of reserved seats to SIC.
According to the Constitution, President Alvi was obligated to call an inaugural session of the NA within 21 days of the February 8 general elections, which marks February 29 as the deadline to do so.
However, given his reluctance, NA Speaker Raja took matters into his own hands and summoned the session on the deadline day today.
