Who will chair the NA session in absence of speaker and deputy speaker?

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly announced a six member panel of chairpersons for conducting the proceedings of the Lower House in the absence of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Syed Fakhar Imam, Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak, Pervaiz Malik, Asad Mehmood, Syed Naveed Qamar and Aslam Bhutani would chair the proceedings of the House in the absence of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, announced the speaker.

According to the section 13 (1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly 2007, the Speaker shall nominate panel of Chairpersons at the commencement of each session , in order of precedence, from amongst the members, a panel of not more than six Chairpersons and in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the member having precedence of the nomination amongst those present shall take the Chair.

Asad Qaiser of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was elected as 15th Speaker of the National Assembly with 176 votes after a stiff competition with Pakistan People Party’s Khursheed Shah who got 146 votes on Aug 15.

Asad Qaiser in the early stages of his political career was a part of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. He remained one of the leading leaders of Pasban, the youth wing of the party at that time.

He later joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after its formation in 1996. The same year, he was elevated to the office of district president of the party. He became the president of PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2008 where he served until 2013.