KARACHI, Dec 11: The stage is set for the long-awaited inaugural session of the Sindh Assembly on Thursday. The session will be presided over by the former deputy speaker, Syed Jalal Mehmoud Shah.

Mr Shah will administer the oath to the 163 members-elect in a House of 168. As for the remaining seats, they have fallen vacant. Those winning from these constituencies were also elected to the National Assembly and they have decided to keep their NA seats.

This is the 11th elected House in the province since 1937 when the first elected assembly came into being, comprising 62 members. After swearing in, the House may elect its speaker and deputy speaker.

A notification, issued on Dec 4 by the Sindh governor, reads: “In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by Article 109 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and other provisions enabling me in this behalf, I, Mohammedmian Soomro, Governor of Sindh, hereby summon the provincial assembly of Sindh to meet in the Sindh Assembly building at 10:00 hours on Thursday, the 12th December, 2002, to administer the oath to the members-elect and to hold elections for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker, immediately whereafter the assembly shall be prorogued”.

However, the programme issued to the members-elect mentions only the administering of the oath and announcement of the schedule for the election of speaker and deputy speaker.

Whether the election for speaker and deputy speaker is held on Thursday or on a later date, it will determine the fate of the groups that have nominated candidates for the top slot.

The session is likely to be reconvened on Saturday to elect speaker and deputy speaker. It will also set things in motion as far as the leadership of the House and the smooth functioning of the democratic process are concerned.

The October polls have produced a split mandate as no parliamentary party is in a position to form its government single-handedly.

The People’s Party Parliamentarians, with the largest number of seats, i.e. 67, needs support from other groups to achieve the magic figure of 85 to form its government. It held talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the second largest group with 41 MPAs, but the MQM has decided to side with the King’s party.

The other group that has staked its claim for the top slot is the Grand National Alliance, though it has only 29 votes with it. The MQM has withdrawn from the contest for chief ministership and decided to support the GNA candidate. Yet, the GNA is short of 15 votes to achieve the simple majority.

Besides the PPP and the MQM, the party position in the House is as under: the PML-Q 15, the National Alliance 14, the PML-F 13, the MMA 10, and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement 1. Two members are independents.

The political deadlock has left Sindh far behind the other provinces, where new governments have already started working. Initially, the Sindh Assembly session was fixed for Nov 25 but the date was extended to Nov 28, reportedly to facilitate the King’s party and its allies to muster support for their candidates for the offices of speaker, deputy speaker and Leader of the House.

On Nov 27, two developments — the MQM’s decision to withdraw support to the government at the Centre and sit on the opposition benches, and the announcement by Sindh PML-Q chief Ghous Bux Maher that Dr Arbab Rahim was not a consensus candidate of the Grand National Alliance — upset all preparations of the King’s party for the Nov 28th session.

In the wake of these developments, the GNA nominee for the top slot, Dr Arbab Rahim, urged the governor to allow more time for manoeuvring and the government obliged by postponing the session for an indefinite period.

The decision drew sharp reactions from almost all the groups, except for the National Alliance.

Apprehending a crisis in Sindh, the government fixed Dec 12 for the inaugural session. Two architects of the new setup, Tariq Aziz, the former principal secretary to the president, and Maj-Gen Ehtesham Zamir, were sent to Karachi to help the King’s party form a government in the province not averse to the Centre. To cover up the activities of the government functionaries, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain rushed to assess the situation but till Wednesday, their efforts had failed to yield any result as the National Alliance was reluctant to surrender its claim for the top slot in favour of any other candidate outside the alliance.

The NA leaders have made it clear to the PML-Q representatives that if their nominee was not supported, their group wouldn’t be bound to back the PML-Q nominee. This “rebellious” attitude among the PML-Q allies, according to political observers, compelled Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to rush to Karachi to mend the situation before it was too late.

How far the prime minister and his elite services personnel have succeeded will be reflected in the election for speaker and deputy speaker.

The newly-elected members will meet in the renovated hall of the historic Sindh Assembly building. The renovation work has cost Rs3.9 million, which includes repair of its dome, removal and refurbishing of its false ceiling, installation of new air-conditioning and conference systems and an increase in the seating capacity from 116 to 168.

The building is a national heritage where historic events have taken place like the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution on March 3, 1943, followed by the ceremony of transfer of power from the British rulers to the newly-created Muslim state of Pakistan.

“Here, the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, took the oath as the first governor-general of Pakistan and Khan Liaquat Ali Khan as the first prime minister on Aug 14 and 15, 1947, respectively,” Assembly Secretary Hadi Bux Buriro told Dawn.