The Punjab Assembly’s maiden session kicked off on Friday afternoon after a delay of over two hours and 20 minutes, which was scheduled to convene at 10am, and all the new members of the Assembly took oath.

Rigth after the oath, speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Sibtain Khan, asked the assembly secretary to announce a four-member panel of chairpersons comprising Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, Raheela Naeem, Sayed Ali Haider Gilani and Saima Kanwal.

The Punjab Assembly secretary announced that speaker and deputy speaker elections will be held with secret balloting on February 24. He said candidates for the speaker and the deputy speaker could submit their nomination papers before 5pm on Friday. The secretary clarified that in case of one candidate, there will be no polling. "Two polling booths will be set up for the polling process of the speaker and deputy speaker.

Sibtain Khan, outgoing speaker of the Punjab Assembly, told the secretary of the Punjab Assembly that he would provide him the time of the elections of speaker and the deputy speaker.

The treasury benches were filled by around 215 members of the PML-N and its allied parties, while 97 members of the Sunni Ittehad Council, including the PTI-backed independent candidates, were also present in the House. Both sides raised slogans against each other's leadership.

PML-N Senior Vice President and Chief Organizer, who is a nominee for the chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, also reached the Punjab Assembly and sat on the treasury benches. She is also likely to take the oath as the first woman chief minister of Punjab.

The PML-N-led treasury benches raised slogans in favour of Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan reached the assembly after a delay of an hour and a half. The PMLN Parliamentary Party meeting had decided to call Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to administer the oat to the newly elected members, if Punjab Assembly speaker Sibtain Khan would breach the parliamentary procedures and not show up to do the job.

Sibtain Khan, after reaching the assembly, said oath-taking of the newly elected members will be held today, while the election for the new speaker and the deputy speaker of the assembly will be held on Saturday.

Earlier, no PTI-backed independent candidates had reached the Punjab Assembly for the 18th session. The PML-N members had reached and sat on the treasury benches.

The PTI claimed that the Punjab Police was stopping the MPAs-elect backed by the party from attending the session and take oath. In a post on X, formely known as Twitter, the party urged the Punjab IG to stop such "unlawful' activities", and let the elected members take oath.

The newly elected members of the assembly started trickling in by 10am, including PML-N's Bilal Yasin, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Azma Bukhari, Hina Butt and others. The Lahore Police and Punjab Assembly security arranged strict arrangements for the session and deployed heavy police contingents.

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman summoned the maiden session of the 18th provincial assembly to meet on Friday after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) partially notified lawmakers on seats reserved for women and minorities.

Maryam vows inclusive government, pro-people policies

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) nominee for Punjab chief ministership Maryam Nawaz shared her roadmap for the province's progress. Speaking at a parliamentary party meeting held in Lahore, Maryam Nawaz stressed the historic significance of her nomination as the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab or in any province of country.

With a focus on prioritising development at both the governmental and party levels, Maryam Nawaz outlined her vision for addressing key areas such as health, education, infrastructure, law and order, agriculture, and information technology across all 297 constituencies of Punjab.

"Each constituency will be empowered to serve as a model of excellence, ensuring equal attention and resources to every district, union council, or division," affirmed Maryam Nawaz, highlighting her commitment to fostering equitable growth and progress.

Sunni Ittehad Council

The members of the Sunni Ittehad Council tried to talk to the speaker on which Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain replied: “You have not become a member yet. Take oath then we will listen to everyone.”

The members of the SIC told the speaker: “The Election Commission of Pakistan have yet to decide on 27 reserved seats,” on which Sibtain Khan replied for how many days could we stop the House business. “It is necessary to take the oath, after that do whatever you want to do,” Sibtain Khan told the protesting SIC members, who pleaded their people were not allowed to enter in the Punjab Assembly.

Sunni Alliance Council member Rana Aftab requested Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan. While PMLN senior leader Malik Ahmad Khan said: “You take the oath, after that we will talk.”

Azma Bokhari criticizes Speaker’s conduct

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Azma Zahid Bokhari criticized conduct of Punjab Assembly Speaker Sabtain Khan.

“Today it seems that the Speaker is under the control of the opposition. The Speaker did not come to the tea party. Sabtain Khan is a one-day guest. Our speaker will come tomorrow,” she told media person outside the outside the Punjab Assembly.

She claimed: “Aslam Iqbal is guilty in May 9 {riots} and he is the wanted criminal.”

Azma Bokhari said: “This time Pervez Elahi’s goons are not present.”

PMLN leader vowed that her party will serve the people of Punjab under the leadership of Maryam Nawaz Sharif —nominee of Punjab CM.

Speaker, deputy speaker election procedure

The outgoing Punjab Assembly speaker, Sibtain Khan, hailing from the PTI, will administer the oath to the members of the new assembly.

According to the Rule 13(1) of Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997, the assembly secretary will then announce a four-member panel of chairpersons to be nominated by the speaker for each session wherein members of that panel are authorised, in their nomination order, to chair proceedings of the house in the absence of speaker and deputy speaker.

Punjab Assembly secretary will then announce the procedure to elect the speaker and deputy speaker as per the Rules 9 and 10 of the Punjab Assembly Rules.

The session will then be prorogued to be summoned anew for electing the new speaker and deputy speaker of the house, to be followed by the election of the leader of the house, i.e., the chief minister.

Security arrangements

A heavy contingent of police has been deployed outside the Punjab Assembly including deployment of the water cannons.

Armored vehicle anti-rights force dolphins are also deployed around the assembly while vehicles entering the assembly are being thoroughly searched.

The security of the entire province including the Punjab Assembly is on high alert.

Punjab IG directed full security is being provided to all members of the assembly, house and meeting.

Punjab Assembly in statistics

The Punjab Assembly is the largest elected house in the country, with 371 seats, comprising 297 general seats and 74 reserved seats, including 66 for women and eight for minorities.

Must Read: ECP allocates reserved seats in PA: PML-N secures 36 seats for women

Reserved seats in Punjab Assembly list

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued notifications regarding the allocation of specific seats in both the Punjab and Sindh Assemblies, delineating reserved seats for women and minorities.

In the Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has secured 36 reserved seats for women, while the PPP has been granted 3 such seats.

Additionally, the PML-N and the IPP have been allotted 2 and 1 seats respectively. The PML-N also clinched 5 minority seats in the assembly.

Overall, the Punjab Assembly boasts a total of 74 reserved seats, including 66 for women and 8 for minorities.

The Commission has released the list of 42 out of 66 reserved seats for women, while notifications for the remaining 24 seats are pending. Similarly, notifications for 5 minority members have been issued, while 3 are awaiting release.

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Punjab Assemble Elections results

The vote count on Punjab Assembly seats has been completed. In Punjab, there are 73,207,896 registered voters out of 127,688,922 population on 297 provincial seats.

The male electorate stood at 39.122 million, while female voters numbered 30.485 million.

Out of a total of 371 seats, 297 were allocated as general seats, 66 reserved for women, and 8 designated for minority communities. Additionally, the province contributed 173 seats to the National Assembly, comprising 141 general seats and 32 reserved for women.

The ECP declared 5,577 polling stations classified as highly sensitive, 14,056 as sensitive, and 30,323 falling under the normal category.

In the 2018 general elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won a total of 184 seats in Punjab, combining the seats of women and minorities, after which Usman Buzdar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab.