ISLAMABAD : The first session of 15th National Assembly commenced on Monday as 325 members of the lower house of the parliament took oath after July 25 general elections.
Outgoing NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq presided over the historic session and administered oath to the MNAs-elect in the 342-member house.
The session begun with the MNAs-elect standing up for the national anthem and was followed by the recitation of the Holy Quran. The speaker then read out the procedure for the election of the new speaker and deputy speaker.
He then administered oath to the MNAs-elect following which they signed the roll of members in alphabetical order. PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari was the first one to sign the roll register.
PM-in-waiting Imran Khan, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Shireen Mazari, Asad Umer, Pervez Khattak, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Munazza Hassan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi among others attended the first session of the revamped House.
PTI chief Imran Khan warmly met various political members including Bilawal and posed for a photograph with him.
Strict security arrangements were made for the occasion as at least a thousand security men were deployed in and oustide the parliament building.
The Constitution makes it mandatory to convene NA session within 21 days of general elections. After the oath-taking ceremony, the speaker prorogued the NA session until August 15, when the new speaker and deputy speaker of the assembly will be elected.
The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the aforementioned slots is 12am, Tuesday while the voting will take place the same day.
