Lawmakers take oath at inaugural session of Pakistan’s 16th National Assembly amidst slogans supporting PTI’s Imran Khan

Islamabad: Pakistan's newly-elected lawmakers took oath on Thursday during the opening session of the 16th Parliament as slogans in favor of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan echoed in the building. 

The session was summoned by President Dr Arif Alvi after delaying the process for several days. The opening session headed by the outgoing Speaker of the previous Parliament, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, began after a delay of more than an hour amidst the slogans being chanted in favour of PTI founder Imran Khan, with lawmakers wearing Imran’s face mask and carrying his posters. The lawmakers also chanted slogans against alleged vote rigging in the February 8 general elections. 

The National Assembly was summoned after Alvi had initially refused it due to differences with the caretaker government over the issue of former prime minister Imran Khan's party-backed candidates being allotted the reserved seats.

The new oath-taking lawmakers included the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari and chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Majority of the seats among the 266-member National Assembly in the February 8 general election were won by the PTI-backed independents. The PTI members were not allowed to directly participate in the elections due to the non-allotment of its iconic electoral symbol - the cricket bat.

Independent candidates - a majority backed by the PTI party -- won 93 National Assembly seats. The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.

The PML-N and the PPP have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government, which may effectively end Khan's chances of returning to power.

Thursday’s session marked PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s comeback to Parliament after seven years. Sharif had stepped down as the premier following his disqualification in 2017 and was living in London until his arrival to Pakistan in October 2023.

Meanwhile, PTI chief Imran Khan has been caught in a host of legal cases since his ouster as the prime minister of the country. Khan has been convicted in the Cipher, Toshakhana and un-Islamic nikah case, inviting a collective 31-year prison sentence.