KARACHI, Feb 19: The Sindh Assembly session which began here on Monday at 11.05am was prorogued just after 46 minutes of proceedings that were marred by rumpus and the opposition’s uproar over, what it alleged, rigging in the recent by-election. It was the first session of the fifth and last parliamentary year of the house.
As soon as the Speaker, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, called the names of newly-elected members, Mujeeb Shah Jillani of the PML-Q and Dr Shankar Lal of the MQM to administer oath and rose from his seat for the purpose, the opposition benches erupted in protest, unfurling banners and waving placards inscribed with slogans against the Election Commission and the poll results.
Raising slogans, many opposition members advanced towards the Speaker’s desk and gathered around it. However, the Speaker administered the oath ignoring the opposition’s noisy protest.
The chair also tried to restore order after the oath-taking was over, but in vain. The session was suspended for 10 minutes at around 11.55am. While the treasury members left the hall, the opposition legislators stayed on. The treasury members returned at 12.20pm and the opposition members resumed their protest. The Speaker took his seat only to declare that the “house is prorogued sine die.”
Before pronouncing the governor’s prorogation order, the Speaker remarked that the house business could not be run in such a situation, he was pointing at the crowd of opposition members holding the banners and placards and raising deafening slogans.
At the onset of the session, after recitation from the Holy Quran and Na’at, fateha was offered for those who died during the recess of the assembly. The deceased included victims of a train accident on Sehwan-Ratodero section, a suicide bombing incidents in Quetta, Islamabad, Peshawar, and D.I. Khan, and blast in Samjhota Express in India. Fateha was also offered for politician Malik Ghulam Serwar, Mohsin Bhopali, Anwar Pirzado, Munir Niazi, Qazi Saeed Akbar, Shamim Shamsi, Ziaul Haq Qasmi, Adnan Shahid, Syed Ehsanul Hashmi, Shaukat Siddiqui, MNA Dr Naseeb Ali Shah and DIG Ali Gohar.
Later, the speaker announced the Panel of Chairmen comprising Iqbal Qaderi, Farhad Jatoi, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah and Dr Sikander Mandro.
Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, on a point of order, referred to the case of Sohail Qalander, Resident Editorof Daily Express, Peshawar, who is missing for many days, and stressed the need for taking a unanimous stand for his recovery.
Minister Irfanullah Khan Marwat on behalf gave an undertaking that the government would pursue the case and keep in touch with the governor and chief minister of NWFP for his early recovery.Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman from the opposition benches asserted that the cases of all activists who were unaccounted for be pursued in the same manner.
Before the treasury benches could respond to his call, the Speaker called out the newly-elected members for oath-taking and the house echoed with slogans from the opposition benches against the Sindh chief minister and his cabinet, Election Commission and Gen Pervez Musharraf. Some opposition MPAs tore off copies of the house agenda for the day while the new members were signing register after taking the oath.
However, the treasury benches accorded warm welcome to their new fellows with the thumping of desk.
