Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Babar Saleem Swati on Thursday took oath as the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session for Speaker and Deputy Speaker election was presided over by the outgoing Speaker Mushtaq Ghani. Outgoing Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered him oath after PTI’s nominated candidate Babar Saleem Swati, an MPA from Mansehra, was elected as speaker of KP assembly. Saleem Swati bagged 89 votes whereas Peoples Party’s Ihsan Ullah Khan managed to secure 17 votes. Moreover, voting for the deputy speaker of KP assembly is underway. PTI woman member from Chitral Surayya Bibi is contesting for the deputy speaker office against PTI-P member Arbab Waseem.

Earlier, the newly elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly took oath of membership amid ruckus caused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers in the legislature. The session was delayed for more than an hour due to the ruckus caused by PTI workers. The elected lawmakers also faced difficulty in entering the Assembly hall. Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered oaths to the newly elected provincial legislators. It is pertinent to mention here that PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council has been the largest parliamentary block in KP Assembly with 91 members, while the JUI have 07, PML-N 05, PPP-04, ANP and PTI-P have one member each in the house.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)