KARACHI, May 19: Leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro has termed the Friday session of the house ‘illegal’.
Talking to media men after the session was adjourned, Mr Khuhro said that the opposition would certainly raise the quorum issue on Monday. He held the treasury benches responsible for the lack of quorum, saying that it reflected their lack of interest in maintaining dignity of the house and resolving people’s problems.
Criticizing Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim for his intention to introduce rationing of sugar in the province, Mr Khuhro said that revival of this system indicated that the government wanted to increase sugar price further. He maintained that rationing system could be introduced only when there was a shortage of a commodity in the country.
He claimed that sufficient stocks of sugar existed with sugar mill-owners and even with the government at its stores.
He pointed out that sugar price had already shot up from Rs23 to Rs43 per kg.
He deplored that the government was not taking action against Chaudhry Shujaat, Jehangir Tareen, Humayun Akhtar and certain ministers who, he claimed, earned billions of rupees by getting sugar prices escalated.
Mr Khuhro claimed that revival of rationing system proved the Sindh government’s failure in ensuring adequate supply and stable rates of sugar.
He also criticised the mess and the provincial government’s indecision, pointing out that every now and then, orders were issued and withdrawn. He also slammed that the government had still remained clueless in the Nishtar Park blast one whole month now after it had taken place, leaving scores of people dead and injured.
The opposition leader deplored that on Friday, treasury members kept sitting in their offices doing their personal business while making the opposition benches to wait for the start of the house proceedings. This, he claimed, created
the problem of quorum and caused a delay of more than two hours in starting the session.
Despite repeated efforts by the opposition benches to raise the issue of this gross violation on the part of the treasury benches, the chair remained oblivious of it and carried on without the quorum.
He maintained that the ruling coalition was responsible for declining dignity of the house and was not adhering to the prescribed rules. In this context, he pointed out that the government had ignored the opposition’s requisition and convened its own session. The treasury benches were not even interested in attending this session.
He said that despite commencement of the proceedings two hours behind the schedule, Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana resorted to adjourn the proceedings just 10 minutes after the start on the instructions of ministers. He described the adjournment as a violation of the ruling of the Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah who had declared that he would come to the house when the quorum was completed. But, he said, the deputy speaker came in when the quorum was not complete and violated the speaker’s ruling.
Mr Khuhro said the adjournment of the proceedings soon after the fateha had already been planned by the treasury benches in their meeting on Thursday. He claimed that the treasury benches were not even interested in paying tributes to the deceased member as they preferred to adjourn the proceedings.
MMA leader Nasrullah Shaji told the media men that citizens, especially students, were being made to suffer through the worst kind of loadshedding being carried out in Karachi and other parts of the province these days.
Ejaz Shah of PPP alleged that Nazim of North Nazimabad Town Mumtaz Hameed had stopped a development scheme for which a PPP legislator had provided finance from her MPA fund.
He claimed that the town nazim had not only snatched files of the scheme from PWD officers and engineers engaged in the survey of the scheme, but had also kidnapped certain federal government officers at gunpoint.
