ISLAMABAD, 1 October — The National Assembly to be elected after the upcoming Oct. 10 elections will meet on Oct. 16 and the first session will be presided over by either Chief Election Commissioner Irshad Hasan Khan or a judge of the Supreme Court, a senior official told Arab News yesterday. According to a tentative schedule, the president will convene the assembly on Oct. 16 and in the first session members will take oath under the amended constitution. An official notification about the returned candidates would be issued by Oct. 13, the official said. After the oath-taking ceremony, deputies will elect the speaker and the deputy speaker of the assembly. By all means the transfer of power to the civilian government would be ensured in October, the official added. However, observers foresee a hung parliament with both the major parties — PPP Parliamentarians and PML (Q) — bagging a good number of seats but obviously not securing a position to form a single-party government. In such a situation, the parties would hold talks for a coalition government.