Balochistan Assembly’s inaugural session is set to convene shortly with the newly-elected members taking oath as legislators of the provincial assembly today.
As per the Assembly Secretariat, Zamrak Khan Achakzai has been appointed as the presiding officer for the session with authorities barring the entry of guests in light of expected protests and the prevailing law and order situation in the province.
The 51 members, elected on general seats, who will be taking their oath today include members of the Pakistan People Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers who have emerged as the largest parties in the 65-member House.
The assembly includes 11 reserved seats for women and three for minorities while the PPP has 11 seats and PML-N has 10 seats.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have 10 and five seats, respectively.
Furthermore, as many as six independent candidates have also made it to the Balochistan Assembly along with the National Party (NP) and Balochistan National Party (BNP) who have secured three and one seats, respectively.
Following their oaths, the legislators, in the session that will continue in the coming days, will vote for the election of the House’s speaker and deputy speaker followed by the election of the chief minister.
With a divided provincial assembly where no political party managed to secure a simple majority in the February 8 polls, the PPP and the PML-N might join hands to form their government as they already have agreed to form a coalition government in the Centre.
Balochistan Assembly’s inaugural session comes as newly-elected members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly will also be taking their oath today.
Sindh and Punjab Assemblies have already administered the oath of their members who have elected their speakers, deputy speakers and chief ministers.
