President Mamnoon postpones Edinburgh trip for Imran’s oath

• Mamnoon was scheduled to visit Edinburgh from August 16 to August 19

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday decided to postpone his foreign trip in order to administer the oath to the next prime minister.

According to media reports, “Caretaker law and information minister Ali Zafar convinced the president to postpone his trip,” after his meeting with the president on Thursday.

President Mamnoon was scheduled to visit Edinburgh from August 16 to August 19 but will leave the country after the oath-taking ceremony.

Earlier, on Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Naeem-ul-Haque also urged the president to delay his foreign trip in order to administer the ceremony.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan is set to become the next prime minister after his party secured 116 general seats in the National Assembly during the July 25 polls.

Moreover, party spokesman Fawad Chaudhry had said that the oath-taking would take place on August 15, 16 or 17.

“Imran will be elected prime minister of the country ‘within the first round’ of vote in the parliament,” he added while claiming that his party has support of 180 members in NA.

The first session will see the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected members of the Lower House of parliament. After taking an oath, the MNAs will elect the speaker and deputy speaker. The ballot for prime minister and opposition leader will be held shortly after.

The constitution calls for the assembly session to be convened within 21 days of a parliamentary election. As per the constitution, the NA session is to be called before August 15; however, it cannot be summoned without the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) consent.

Though the session has been called on August 13, the PTI wants the interim government and the ECP to remove the hurdles in order to get the session convened in time.

President summons NA session on August 13

Meanwhile, President Mamnoon signed a summary approving the call for a National Assembly session on August 13.

It was reported on Thursday that PTI will take the reins with the claimed 180 seats in the NA after the president approved the summary moved by Interim Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk for convening the session of the new assembly.

According to the PM’s spokesperson, the summary was sent to President Mamnoon and a formal notification for the NA session, which would be convened for at least four days, was issued thereafter.