MIRPUR (AJK) PPP member Sardar Ghulam Sadiq and Ms Shaheen Dar were elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively of the newly-elected Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly here on Monday. The newly-elected 49-seat Legislative Assembly, 9th in the AJK's Parliamentary history, met in Muzaffarabad at the State Assembly Hall with the Speaker Ch. Anwarul Haq in the chair. After oath-taking, the House elected the PPP nominee Sardar Ghulam Sadiq as Speaker and Ms Shaheen of the same party as Deputy Speaker of the new House. The elected Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq won 36 votes against his nearest rival Raja Muhammad Siddique of PML-N who secured 10 votes. Similarly, the newly-elected Deputy Speaker Shaheen Dar pocketed 35 votes against her only rival Chaudhry Yasin Gulshan of PML-N who bagged 10 votes. The outgoing Speaker Ch Anwar ul Haq administered oath to the newly elected Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq. The newly-elected Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq later administered oath to the newly elected Deputy Speaker Shaheen Dar. A total of 46 out of the elected 48 members of the Legislative Assembly participated in the elections process to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the new Assembly. Earlier, the newly-elected members of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly took the oath in a special session of the legislature held in Muzaffarabad. Speaker Ch Anwarul Haq administered the oath to the members elected in the general elections. The newly-elected members of the 49-seat legislature belonged to PPP-AJK, PML-N, Muslim Conference and the MQM. The 48 members of the 49-seat House were elected. Election to the constituency LA-37 (meant for Pakistan-based Jammu & Kashmir refugees in Lahore) will be held later. The polling in this constituency was postponed on July 26th due to disturbance among the rival groups. Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani congratulated Sardar Ghulam Sadiq and Shaheen Kausar Dar for being elected as the speaker and deputy speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. They expressed confidence that both of them will run the legislative business of the Assembly according to the rules. The president and the prime minister further said that the continuation of the democratic process will ensure that the problems of the people would be resolved as per their needs. They termed the victory of the Pakistan Peoples Party as the manifestation of the confidence reposed by the Kashmiri people in the policies of PPP.