The 16th National Assembly officially commenced its term on Wednesday with the swearing-in ceremony of the lawmakers elected in the February 8 general elections.
The newly elected MNAs took their oath of office administered by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
The assembly session’s convening, required to be held on the 21st day after the polls as per Article 91(2) of the Constitution, had been uncertain due to President Arif Alvi’s insistence on the allocation of reserved seats before the session.
Reports indicated that the president had neither accepted nor rejected the summary, providing only a verbal response on the matter.
Amidst this uncertainty, the National Assembly Secretariat took the initiative to convene the session on Monday.
However, following warnings from political parties about potential legal consequences, the president eventually summoned the NA session.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has allocated reserved seats to various political parties. Still, it has yet to assign the reserved quota to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after independent candidates backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined the party.
Recently, the ECP’s five-member bench, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, reserved its verdict on the petitions filed by the SIC, which sought the allocation of women and minority seats.
Ahead of the oath-taking session, several prominent politicians, including PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, have arrived at the National Assembly building.
