Pakistan’s New Ruling Alliance Takes Control of Parliament With New Speaker

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (R), a former prime minister who belongs to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which is part of the new ruling alliance, takes oath as the 22nd Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from Ayaz Sadiq, a member of the panel of the chairman, at the Parliament House in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 16, 2022. Press Information Department/Handout via Reuters

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan’s new ruling alliance took control of the lower house of parliament on Saturday with the election of a new speaker, cementing control of the assembly after former premier Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

The previous speaker and his deputy, both Khan allies, had attempted to block and then delay the vote, only for the country’s top court to deem their actions illegal.