The first sitting of the new National Assembly (NA) is being held at Parliament House in Islamabad today.

According to the agenda, the members-elect of the house will take oath during the session. The new MNAs-elect are reaching the Parliament House to attend the inaugural session of the lower house of the Parliament.

Strict security measures have been put in place in the Red Zone. The entry of vehicles without special cards and stickers are not allowed to enter the Parliament House premises.

President signs summary 

Following a tug-of-war with the Centre, President Dr Arif Alvi finally signed a summary, forwarded by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, to summon the National Assembly’s (NA) inaugural session today (Thursday).

In a statement issued from the President’s House, Dr. Arif Alvi also ‘expressed’ reservations over the “tone and allegations” in the caretaker summary forwarded by PM Anwaarul Kakar.

Schedule for PM election 
As per the schedule, Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf would administer the oath to the newly-elected legislators, followed by the election of the new speaker and deputy speaker.

For the aforementioned coveted constitutional posts, aspiring candidates are required to submit their nomination papers before 12pm today — with the voting set to be held on Friday (tomorrow).

This would be followed by the election of the prime minister, for which the candidates are required to file their nomination papers on March 3, whereas the election for the country’s chief executive would be held next week on March 4 (Monday).

Sources say that the newly-elected prime minister is likely to take oath as the country’s chief executive on the same day.

Who is contesting the PM election?
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has the backing of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and others, has nominated Shehbaz Sharif as its candidate for the top office.

Meanwhile, jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party nominated as its Prime Ministerial candidate the party secretary general Omar Ayub Khan, grandson of former military dictator Ayub Khan.

Omar Ayub Khan, 54, joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) before the 2018 general elections after losing the 2013 polls as a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) from Haripur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.