LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee, Rana Muhammad Iqbal was elected as the speaker of the Punjab assembly with 297 votes, reported Express News on Monday.
Deputy speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan presided over the voting process instead of Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal as he was contesting for the position.
Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) nominated former speaker of Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal again for the same slot on Sunday. The party pitched Sher Ali Gorchani from Rajanpur district for the deputy’s slot.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) with 26 MPAs put forward Raja Rashid Hafeez for the office of speaker.
Earlier, PPP withdrew its nominations for the two slots in the Punjab Assembly.
The Punjab Assembly commenced its first session on Saturday during which newly elected members took oath.
The opening session of the 16th Punjab Assembly was presided over by Speaker Rana Iqbal Khan, who also administered the oath of office to the newly elected members.
The chief minister will be sworn in at the Governor House on June 6.
Out of the 366 elected members, 312 belong to the PML-N, 26 to the PTI, 9 to the PML-Q, 7 to the PPP, 3 to the PML-Zia and one each to JI, BNAP, PNML, and JUI-F. Five lawmakers remained independent.