Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 28: The Legislative Assembly today unanimously elected veteran National Conference leader and four times MLA from Iddgah Mubarak Gul as new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in place of Mohammad Akbar Lone, who was last month inducted into the Council of Ministry as Higher Education Minister.
Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Saifullah Mir moved a motion to elect Gul as Speaker, which was seconded by Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader Tara Chand.
Gul was unanimously elected as Speaker of the House by a voice vote with main Opposition party, the PDP abstaining from the House.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand and their Cabinet colleagues besides some MLAs of the Opposition parties took Gul to the Chair and wished him success.
After assuming the chair of Speaker, several members congratulated Gul. They described Gul as one of the experienced legislators and hoped that he will fulfill the aspirations of the Members in conducting the proceedings of the House with high traditions of democracy. The Members extended full cooperation to the new Speaker.
Immediately after being elected as Speaker, Gul said in the House that he will do his level best to fulfill the aspirations of the Members and strengthen the credibility of the institution.
The Speaker stressed the need for highlighting the issues of public importance in the House, which is the prime objective of all Members. This, he said, can be possible with the cooperation of all Members. He sought full cooperation of the Members in the smooth conduct of the House so that justice is done with every member in the deliberations.
Gul said “we have to restrain ourselves from cheap politicking and should always follow the high principles of sacrifice, sincerity and tolerance set by our great leaders.
“The service to the humanity is indeed a noble assignment and we all should be proud of being in this field and it should be our endeavour to strengthen our democratic system. We should set new examples for the coming generations and maintain decorum in the House by all costs”, Gul said.
He also sought cooperation from the treasury, opposition benches and media for their constructive role with highest traditions of honesty, fairness and impartiality in conducting the proceedings of the House. He assured the House that he will do justice with every member and give adequate time for raising important issues.
Speaking after the election of Gul, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the seniority and experience of Gul made him the choicest person to hold the respected chair of Speaker in the Legislative Assembly.
He said four time legislator, Gul has rendered valuable assistance to him as his Advisor. He also recalled his long association with Gul.
“I was in search of the occasion when Gul’s contribution and service to the society could be recognized”, he said adding that by the election of Mubarak Gul to the chair of Speaker Legislative Assembly today, the contribution and calibre of Gul has been recognized as he deserved this the most.
Congratulating Gul for his new assignment, Omar expressed the hope that he would conduct the proceedings and run the House impartially and to the best of his ability. He said that he will miss Gul now as his Advisor.
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