Pakistan: Raja Pervaiz Ashraf elected new National Assembly speaker

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was elected as the new National Assembly speaker on Saturday, Samaa TV reported.

The seat fell vacant on April 3 after the resignation of Asad Qaiser who, hours before the Supreme Court’s deadline for the vote of no-confidence motion was to expire, addressed the assembly to announce the decision.

The former speaker said that the then-cabinet had shared the alleged “threat letter” with him and asked the lawmakers to stand for the country’s sovereignty.

“I can no longer remain on the seat of the speaker and I resign,” Qaiser had said. He also said that he accepts the Supreme Court’s decision and asked former speaker Ayaz Sadiq to run the session.

Meanwhile, Qasim Suri resigned as the deputy speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly, less than an hour before the voting on the no-confidence motion against him started.

Confirming the news, Suri shared a copy of his resignation on Twitter and said that his decision signified his association with his party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and democracy, Dawn newspaper reported.