163 Sindh MPAs take oath as GDA, JI, JUI stay away

As many as 163 newly-elected members of the 16^th Sindh Assembly took oath on Saturday amid no show-up by the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam lawmakers, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani chaired the inaugural session of the provincial assembly and later administered oath to the members. The MPAs took oath in three languages – Urdu, Sindhi and English.

There were earlier reports that 151 MPAs-elect will be sworn in but actually 163 members were administered oath by the speaker with four others could not be administered oath for different reasons.

Seapker Durrani also announced that the voting to elect new speaker and deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly will be held on Sunday (tomorrow).

There was a commotion in the gallery during the oath-taking. The speaker warned that trouble-makers will be expelled from the gallery, saying “You can go to courts for relief. The whole of Sindh has extended support to the PPP and you must keep on trying if you are rejected by the masses.”

Newly-elected members belonging to GDA, PTI-backed independents, JI and JUI stayed away from the oath-taking session.

JUI workers reportedly staged a protest at Karachi’s Toll Plaza after they were not allowed to enter the megacity. JUI-F Sindh Secretary General Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro led the protest, saying the party workers wanted to stage a protest outside the provincial assembly. The protest has disrupted traffic flow on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway.

The police also resorted to lathi-charge against protesters outside the assembly, arresting a number of activists including women.

Meanwhile, JUI workers staged a sit-in at Karsaz after they were not allowed to go to the Sindh Assembly to stage a protest.

Party position

The business in the new assembly including elections of the new provincial chief executive, speaker and deputy speaker was appeared to be a cakewalk for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as it has comfortable majority in the house.

As per the ECP’s results, PPP won the most provincial assembly seats (84) followed by MQM-P (28), while independent candidates bagged 14, GDA two, and JI two seats in the February 8 general elections in Sindh.

Additionally, the PPP got 26 reserved seats for women and minorities, with the MQM-P being allocated eight reserved seats as per their strength in the assembly.

GDA, JI, JUI plan protest amid Section 144

Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI) have announced plans to protest outside the Sindh Assembly during the oath-taking ceremony.

The Sindh Home Department has imposed section-144 in Karachi’s red zone for one month. The caretaker Sindh home minister has declared processions and strikes as prohibited under section-144.

Any violation of the law will be dealt with firmly, according to the minister, who has deployed police force in the red zone to ensure compliance.

Police made several arrests

Police arrested a number of people taking part in a protest outside the Sindh Assembly building and shifted them to a nearby police station.

The police were heavily deployed outside the Sindh Assembly keeping in view the protest.

Due to the protest and heavy presence of police the traffic on major arteries in the megacity was thrown into a chaos

Key roads including Shahra-e-Faisal were jampacked with vehicles stranded for hours.

PPP candidates

Talking to media after PPP's parliamentary party meeting in Karachi on Friday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Syed Murad Ali Shah would be PPP’s candidate for Sindh chief minister slot. He said Syed Awais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed would be PPP’s candidates for Sindh Assembly speaker and deputy speaker offices, respectively.

Syed Awais Shah was elected MPA from Sukkur and Naveed Anthony was elected on a reserved seat for minorities.

The 61-year-old graduate of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Syed Murad Ali Shah would assume the CM office for the second consecutive term. In July 2016, the PPP leadership had brought him to replace Syed Qaim Ali Shah as chief minister in the middle of the five-year term. He then continued to serve as chief minister for the full 2018-23 term.

Awais Shah, an MPA-elect from Sukkur, had served as transport minister during the last term of PPP government. Mr Shah, who belongs to the family of PPP stalwart Syed Khursheed Shah, is also an engineer by qualification. He completed his graduation from Mehran Engineering University, Jamshoro.

Anthony Naveed, who first became a member of the Sindh Assembly in 2018 on a reserved seat of minority, served as special assistant to CM in 2016-17.

MQM-P candidates

In a related development, the Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment-Pakistan (MQM-P), the second largest party in the Sindh Assembly, announced fielding its candidates for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker in Sindh Assembly. In a statement, the MQM-P said its coordination committee had decided to nominate Sofia Shah Advocate and Advocate Rashid Khan for the post of speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.

Reporters Shazaib Hussain, Ajiz Jamali and Taha Malik