ISLAMABAD:Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday took oath as National Assembly speaker.
Presiding officer Sardar Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to the newly-elected speaker. The House was also scheduled to take up no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, but it was put off after he tendered his resignation from the post before the start of the assembly session.
Raja Pervez Ashraf was elected Speaker of the National Assembly unopposed on Friday as no other NA member submitted nomination papers for this slot and the deadline ended. The speaker’s post fell vacant when Asad Qaiser resigned from his position before voting on the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan on April 9. According to the National Assembly Secretariat, notification regarding the election of Raja Pervez Ashraf as Speaker will be issued in accordance with the rules.
A senior PPP leader from Rawalpindi district, Raja Ashraf today submitted his nomination papers for National Assembly speaker election. His proposer and seconders were Khurshid Shah and Naveed Qamar. Raja is a Pakistani businessman, agriculturist, and politician who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from 22 June 2012 until completing his designated term on 16 March 2013.
He is a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from NA-58 (Rawalpindi-II), and also serves as the Senior Vice President of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an anti-establishment coalition of political parties in Pakistan. Prior to being elevated as prime minister, he served as the Minister for Water and Power in the Yousaf Raza Gillani-led government from March 2008 to February 2011.
Ashraf assumed premiership on 22 June 2012 after Yousaf Raza Gillani was disqualified over contempt of court charges. Shortlisted by the PPP as a candidate for the post, he was eventually elected based on a 211–89 vote in the National Assembly.