Pakistan Parliament set to appoint former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as new speaker

Pakistan's Parliament is set to meet on Saturday to appoint former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the new speaker and take up a no-confidence motion against deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri for acting in favour of the previous government led by Imran Khan.

Ashraf, 71, from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will be given the oath of office after he was deemed elected as no other candidate on Friday submitted nomination papers against him till the 12-noon deadline.

The office of the speaker fell vacant after Asad Qaiser resigned on April 9 after failing to implement a decision by the Supreme Court verdict to hold a no-confidence vote against ousted prime minister Khan.

Ashraf, who previously served as the prime minister of Pakistan, and was elected after the office of a speaker was given to the Pakistan Peoples Party – the leading partner of the current coalition government. The National Assembly would also take up the no-confidence resolution already moved against Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party member and Deputy Speaker Suri, who is currently functioning as the acting speaker.

Just before the election of Shehbaz Sharif as the new prime minister of Pakistan on April 11, ousted prime minister Khan's party lawmakers decided to resign from the National Assembly.