On March 3 (Sunday), the election for the leader of the house in the National Assembly will see PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif and PTI’s Omer Ayub Khan as contenders for the prime minister’s post.
Nomination papers for the prime ministerial slot can be obtained from the Legislation Branch of the National Assembly until 2 pm on Saturday (March 2), as per the schedule issued by the NA Secretariat.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will be completed by 3 pm on the same day (Saturday).
The voting for the prime minister will be conducted through division of members in the house, in accordance with the Constitution. Before the voting begins, bells will ring for five minutes inside the Parliament House to ensure all members are present in the chamber.
Once the voting process commences, the doors will be locked, and no one will be allowed to enter or leave until the election is concluded.
Supervised by the speaker, voting will proceed through division. For instance, if there are two candidates, members will be directed to separate lobbies designated for each candidate. The entire process will be transparent, with assembly secretariat staff recording the names of members in registers placed at the lobby entrances.
According to Section 91(4) of the Constitution, the Prime Minister must be elected by a majority of the total membership of the National Assembly. If no member secures such a majority in the first poll, a second poll will be held between the two members with the highest number of votes from the first poll.
Representatives from PTI and PML-N, along with other political parties, have engaged in seeking votes for their respective candidates from various political leaders, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
