Who is the new Speaker of Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmed Khan?

Malik Ahmed Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was elected Speaker of Punjab Assembly by getting 224 votes on Saturday.

His rival Sunni Ittehad Council candidate Ahmed Khan Bhachar got 96 votes. A total of 322 votes were cast in the election while two votes were rejected.

The PML-N nominated Malik Ahmed Khan as its candidate this time instead of Rana Muhammad Iqbal, who was the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly twice.

His opponent was Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council.

There was a deadlock in the House till four o’clock on Saturday, as the Sunni Ittihad Council raised an objection that the Election Commission had not issued the notification for the specific seats, so the election could not take place.

However, the current Speaker Sabatin Khan announced the election after legal consultation on the issue. After polling, Malik Ahmed Khan was declared successful by the votes of Muslim League-N and allies.

Today, 326 members exercised their right to vote in the 371-member House. During the meeting, sloganeering continued from both sides and critical phrases were exchanged.

Due to the strong opposition, the newly elected Speaker will have a heavy responsibility to run the House.

Who is Malik Ahmed Khan?

Malik Ahmed Khan, who started politics from Pakistan Muslim League-Q, belongs to a political family of Kasur district of Punjab.

According to the records of the Punjab Assembly, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan was elected as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League-Q from Constituency PP 179 (Qasur-Panch) in 2002 general elections.

After joining the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in January 2012, he became a member of the Provincial Assembly from Constituency PP 179 (Qasur-Panch) in the 2013 general elections.

In the election of 2018, he became a member of the Provincial Assembly from the constituency PP 176 (Kasur-Tin) for the third time as a candidate of Muslim League-N and now in the election of 2024, he became a member of the provincial assembly from Kasur for the fourth time.

After 2013, he became the information advisor to former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Why do ruling parties retain the posts of Speaker?

In this regard, Babar Dogar, a journalist doing parliamentary reporting, said that the most important role in running parliamentary affairs is that of the speaker or the deputy speaker. Whether passing a resolution, enacting legislation or making any amendment, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker have an important role.

He further said that it would not be wrong to say that it is considered a mandatory tradition in democratic governments that the ruling party should bring a speaker from its own party or from the coalition party.

One of the main reasons for this is that whether it is a motion of no confidence, defense of the powers of the Leader of the House or any serious matter of criticism against him, all this has to be controlled by the Speaker. Therefore, any government in our politics until then They do not consider themselves strong unless they have a Speaker or a Deputy Speaker.

‘The examples of this in recent times are enough to understand. As the issue of no-confidence motion against the PTI government came up, then in Punjab, as conflicts were seen between the PML-N and PTI over the formation and removal of the government, the role of Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in Punjab was clear. Had he not been the PTI coalition speaker, the situation would have been different.’

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