Pakistan Peoples Party’s Imran Nadeem and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Malik Kifayatur Rehman were elected speaker and deputy speaker of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly unopposed on Monday, with both taking their oaths of office in the same session.

The inaugural sitting of the newly constituted assembly was presided over by outgoing speaker Nazir Advocate, who administered the oath to 30 of the 33 newly elected members.

Nazir Advocate also congratulated the members on their election before handing charge of the speakership to Imran Nadeem following the conclusion of the election process.

PPP senior leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira and Nayyar Bukhari were present in the visitors’ gallery during the proceedings.

The PPP is forming the provincial government with the support of both PML-N and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party.

Earlier, the PML-N and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) had announced support for the PPP in the government formation process.

The understanding followed a telephone conversation between PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and IPP President Abdul Aleem Khan, during which the PPP invited the IPP to join hands in forming the next government in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The IPP subsequently accepted the proposal and pledged its support to the PPP-led government formation process in the region.