NA inaugural session likely on Aug 13 or 14

–Newly-elected PM to take oath, job of the caretakers to be over in second week of August 

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Syed Ali Zafar Friday said Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had assured that it would complete legal formalities by August 11 or 12 and the first session of the recently-elected National Assembly may be convened on August 13 or 14.

Talking to media persons after visiting the National Archives of Pakistan here he said as per constitution, it was obligatory to summon the first session of the National Assembly within 21 days after elections and it was imperative to fulfill this constitutional obligation by August 15.

He said in the inaugural session first of all new speaker and deputy speaker would be elected and then the all-important election of the new leader of the house such as; the prime minister would be held and this process may take three to four days.

He said after the election, the newly-elected prime minister would take the oath and the job of the caretakers would be over and under constitutional provisions, power would be transferred to the new government.

He said presently the ECP was completing the legal formalities including consolidations of elections results, collection of returns of expenditures from the winning candidates during the elections.

Then independents are given time to decide whether they want to join any political party or stay independent, Ali Zafar said adding that after that, the ECP would issue the party position status in the assembly and issue the list of winning candidates on reserved seat for women and minorities.

To a question he said the caretaker government during its short tenure under the leadership of caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk had performed its duties with commitment and dedication and took steps for overcoming challenges in power, energy, water, law and petroleum sectors and matters related to foreign affairs and prepared guidelines which he hoped would help the next government to run the business of the governance smoothly.

Earlier, the minister visited various sections of the National Archives of Pakistan and inspected centuries-old manuscripts and books. Addressing the officers and staff of Pakistan National Archives he said preservation of national archives was critical not only from historical perspective but they also helped the nations to learn from past mistakes.

He appreciated the plan of digitalisation of archives which would provide access to the users on their computers and laptops at their homes as well.

He said spending on the preservation of archives was no less important than expenditure on water, power and economy.