NA elects Fehmida as first woman Speaker
Faisal Kundi elected Dy Speaker nJUI-F abstains voting
By Saad Saud

ISLAMABAD—Dr. Fehmida Mirza on Wednesday making history became the first ever woman speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan. Dr Fahmida Mirza received 249 out of 324 votes, of which 319 were valid and five votes were declared invalid. Asrar Tareen her opposing candidate only managed to bag 70 votes. Thus making her the 18th National Assembly speaker and the first ever woman speaker of an Islamic country.
Dr Fehmida Mirza hails from Badin in Sindh and has been winning elections continuously since 1997. She is wife of Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, a close friend of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Hailing from an influential political family of Sindh, the 51-year-old Dr Fehmida Mirza has won the National Assembly seat in open electoral contest from Badin in 1997, 2002 and 2008. Outgoing Speaker NA Ch Amir Hussain speaking on the occasion congratulated DR Fahmida Mirza on her victory and expressed the hope that she would run the house proceedings in an ample manner. He said that it is a proud moment that today this assembly elected the first female speaker NA. He said that he is privileged to run the house for the past 5 years and thanked all the opposition and treasury members for their help and cooperation during his tenure. He said that he is proud that the assemblies completed their tenure of five years. Later on he administered oath to the new Speaker National Assembly.
Faisal Karim Kundi of PPPP on Wednesday won the contest for the office of Deputy Speaker National Assembly by securing 246 votes. His rival Ms Khush Bakht Shujaat of MQM secured 68 votes. The newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Fahmida Mirza has prorogued NA session for indefinite period after administering oath from Deputy Speaker, Faisal Karim Kundi. Earlier, during the day proceedings, the house elected Dr. Fahmida Mirza as the Speaker of the National Assembly. Dr. Fahmida Mirza thanked the newly elected parliamentarians for attending the session and hoped that this would pave the way for strong democracy. The Speaker National Assembly said that she would go along with the house for the supremacy of parliament. “The masses of Pakistan have set up several hopes from new parliament. We would solve the problems of the masses at their doorstep “, she added.
She said that she owes her success due to tireless efforts and the legacy of assassinated Benazir Bhutto. While talking about the media, the speaker said that she believed in freedom of the media and hoped that the upcoming government would review and solve the conflict issues of the media.
Dr. Fehmida Mirza, the nominated candidate of PPP and its allied parties for the slot of the Speaker National Assembly has said that she would treat both the treasury and opposition benches equally.