PPP’s Ghulam Mustafa Shah secures NA deputy speaker’s slot

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah took oath as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly (NA) after he was elected to the post with 197 votes, ARY News reported on Friday.  

According to details, the PPP politico defeated the PTI-backed candidate Junaid Akbar who bagged 92 votes out of 291.

The voting for the election of NA deputy speaker was held through a secret ballot. The lawmakers one by one cast their vote.

Newly-elected NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah.

Earlier in the day, PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was elected the new National Assembly speaker after securing 199 votes out of a total of 291 votes cast.

After the counting of votes was complete, outgoing speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that a total of 291 votes were cast, out of which one was “invalid” and the rest declared “valid”.

He then announced that Sadiq received 199 votes while his rival PTI-backed Amir Dogar got 91 votes.

Read more: Newly elected MNAs take oath in NA’s inaugural session

It is pertinent to mention here that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif nominated Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the position of Speaker of the National Assembly, while Bilawal Bhutto named Ghulam Mustafa Shah as the candidate for Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.