Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Malik Ahmed Khan was elected as speaker of the Punjab Assembly on Saturday.

The election for the speaker and the deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly was conducted through secret balloting in its session.

As many as 327 MPAs cast their votes, out of which PML-N’s Khan secured 224 votes to become the speaker of the Assembly.

The election was held between Khan and Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Ahmed Khan who managed to secure 96 votes.

PML-N’s Zaheer Iqbal was elected deputy speaker of the house defeating SIC’s Moin Riaz for the position.

Iqbal secured 220 votes while Riaz ended up with 103 votes.

Earlier, another four MPAs took oath before the election for the speaker and deputy speaker, taking the total tally to 317 members of the house.

A day earlier, at least 313 MPAs — 215 belonging to the PML-N and allied parties and 98 PTI-backed independents — under the banner of the SIC — took the oath administered by the outgoing Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan where chief minister-in-waiting Maryam Nawaz made her parliamentary debut.

The proceedings of the new assembly’s maiden session began over two hours behind schedule as the speaker was late to arrive.