Abid Qayyum Raja has been elected as vice president of Norway’s national parliament
Norway parliament has elected Pakistani origin politician Abid Qayyum Raja as vice president of Norwegian national parliament.
Abid Qayyum Raja, is a Norwegian based Pakistani lawyer and Liberal Party Politian elected him as one of the five vice presidents of the Norwegian parliament.
Abid Qayyum Raja was born in Oslo in 1975, his father Abdul Qayyum Raja was a factory worker who worked in steel plant, while his mother Akthar Nasim was a homemaker.
Abid Qayyum Raja started his career as a lawyer in Norway after having graduated from here. He also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University.
Raja is the second representative of Muslim background who has gone into the presidency of Storting. The first was Akhtar Chaudhry between 2009 and 2013 session.
Raja and two other Norwegian Pakistani politicians, Ms Hadia Tajik and Mudassar Hussain Kapoor were elected as member of the parliament in the election held last month.
Olemic Thommessen was elected as president again and Morten Wold, Nils T. Bjorke, Magne Rommetveit, Eva Kristin Hansen and Raja as vice presidents.
According to Norwegian publication says that Abid Qayyum Raja believes his election has symbolic significance because someone with his background has entered the presidency in Norway.
Raja said he particularly wanted to use his position in the presidency to work on religious dialogue and strive for the freedom of belief internationally.
He further expressed that he will give his best to perform his duties well within Norway as well as abroad. This great step taken by the people and parliament of Norway shows a multicultural vision of the world and is an example for others to follow.
As per Deputy Mayor of Norway city Syed Yousf Gilani, its a great achievement and it was a result of honesty and hard work of Pakistanis in the Norwegian society.
Islamabad-Rawalpindi Welfare Society Norway’s President Mirza Zulfiqar also congratulated Abid Raja for achieving vice-presidential slot in the Norwegian parliament.