Rana Mohammed Iqbal Khan on Monday was re-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker with a thumping majority.
Out of a total of 332 votes, Iqbal secured 297 votes while Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Raja Rashid Hafeez bagged 35 votes.
Polling for the Speaker’s slot was held through a secret ballot with MPA Rana Mashhood Khan in the chair. Chief Minister-designate and PML-N parliamentary party leader Shahbaz Sharif was the first to cast vote for the election of Speaker followed by Mian Mehmood-ur-Rashid of the PTI, PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi while Jamaat-e-Islami’s parliamentary party leader Dr Waseem Akhtar abstained, saying as per his party’s decision he would not cast vote. The Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian had already announced a boycott of the election.