ISLAMABAD  - Newly elected lawmakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan took oath on Thursday in the maiden session of parliament.

Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf swore in the newly elected members, including three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari, his son and ex-Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The lawmakers will elect the speaker and deputy speaker on Friday, followed by the new Prime Minister of the country for next five years.

Ahead of oath-taking, members of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan brought portraits of Khan and raised slogans demanding free and fair investigation into alleged rigging in the general elections.

Lawmakers also chanting slogans against the Nawaz Sharif who was also present in the hall. PTI lawmakers accused Sharif to stolen their mandate and snatched their 80 seats by PMLN, PPP and MQM. 

The PTI-backed lawmakers have already joined a little-known Sunni Ittehad Council party, intending to gain seats in parliament reserved for women and minorities based on their parliamentary representation.

The Election Commission of Pakistan is expected to announce its decision of reserve seats to be allotted or not to Khan's party.

Following controversry over the summoning parliament session on Wednesday, the National Assembly Secretariat issued a notification, summoning the session on Thursday to elect the speaker, deputy speaker and leader of the house for the next five-year term

However, late Wednesday, Pakistan’s president Arif Alvi also summoned the inaugural session of the National Assembly after his earlier refusal, arguing that the house is incomplete since the Election Commission of Pakistan has not allotted reserved seats for women and religious minorities to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The president approved the summoning of the National Assembly session with "reservations” and with the hope that the issue of reserved seats would be resolved in line with the constitution, said a statement from the President's Office.

- Hung parliament

The crucial Feb. 8 elections resulted in a hung parliament, with no party securing a simple majority to form the government.

According to the latest tally announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the PMLN -led coalition, which also includes the center-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and several smaller parties, has a combined strength of over 150 out of 266 direct seats in the National Assembly.

The coalition has also named former Prime Minister and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif as its candidate for the coveted post for a second term.

Sharif remained prime minister of a coalition government with almost the same parties from April 2022 to August 2023 following the ouster of Imran Khan through a no-trust vote.

To form a government with a simple majority, a party requires 134 direct seats, which can be counted as 169 MPs after allocating members to reserved seats for women and religious minorities in the National Assembly.

The National Assembly has 336 seats, with 60 reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities.

Meanwhile, social media platform X services, which have been suspended in the country since Saturday night, have yet to be restored, with no explanation provided by the telecommunication regulator.