KARACHI, Nov 17: The out-going Sindh Assembly, which came into being 62 days after the election of its constituents on Dec 12, 2002, will be remembered for noisy protests, desk-thumping, brawls, floor-crossing and some legislation.
The 168-member house was dominated by an initial coalition of 90 MPAs from the PML-Q, PML-F, MQM and independents, which later swelled to 103 as members’ party loyalties shifted.
Like the National Assembly and three other provincial assemblies, the outgoing house has the singular honour of being the first to ever complete its five-year term in the province. During this period of 42 sessions, including 15 requisitioned by the opposition, the first leader of the house changed after 18 months: Sardar Ali Mohammed Meher, who was elected on Dec 15, 2002, as the leader of the house, resigned on June 7, 2004, due to problems within the coalition group.
Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who was elected as the new leader of the house on June 9, 2004 also faced initial problems which at its peak, almost created a breaking point for the coalition. Matters were resolved under the aegis of the secretary of the National Security Council, Tariq Aziz, who is considered General Musharraf’s trouble-shooter.
The outgoing MPAs constituted Sindh’s first graduate Assembly since graduation was one of the conditions laid upon candidates for a seat in the Assembly. While this requirement meant that quite a lot of fresh blood was inducted, the forum nevertheless failed to meet the electorate’s expectations. One possible reason cited is that such members, mainly scions of influential landlords from the interior of the province, were relatively inexperienced.
During these past five years, much of the house’s time in session was spent on irrelevant matters while the house business was sidelined. From day one of its term, the outgoing Assembly was characterised by its members’ predilection towards commotion. Hardly a day went by without a rumpus of some sort. Except for very few bills, most legislative business was conducted amidst noise from the opposition or its walkout. The house rarely resumed business on time.
Also worth noting is the fact that the sanctity of the Assembly premises was trampled on Dec 14, 2002, when the police entered and arrested the sole member of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Yunus Khan, without prior permission from the custodian.
The overall performance of the opposition members and the treasury benches was by no means enviable. However, a few could be relied upon to have done their homework and may mature into good parliamentarians if they return to the Assembly. Among the newcomers, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Rafique Engineer, Shazia Maree, Hameedullah Khan, Jameel-uz-Zaman, Nasrullah Khan Shaji, Farhad Zaman Jatoi, Anwar Alam, Faisal Sabzwari, Nadir Akmal Leghari, Qamar Mansoor, S. Iqbal Quaderi, Zahid Ali Bhurgari, Bilqees Mukhtar, Farheena Ambreen, Farida Baloch, Heer Ismail Soho, Humera Alwani, Mehreen Bhutto, Nuzhat Pathan, Saeeda Malik, Shama Arif Mithani and Nasreen Chandio did good work. Most of them having been good debaters in their student days, they could make a difference if they took their work seriously.
Over five years, 42 bills were passed, including one out of 43 private bills. The only bill to be unanimously adopted on Oct 25, 2005, was the Ziauddin Medical University (Amendment) Bill 2003. Six government bills were referred to the committee while four stood withdrawn. Of 36 resolutions moved in the House, including joint resolutions, only 16 were adopted. Meanwhile, of 19 privilege motions referred to the committee, only two reports were presented in the House. During its five-year tenure, the house admitted and discussed 79 adjournment motions but only two were passed. Of the 4,572 questions received by the Assembly Secretariat, 2,786 were answered on the house floor, 741 were disallowed, 236 remain pending while on 809 questions, letters were issued to the members.
Government bills referred to special/standing committee, Dec 2002 — Nov 2007:
1) The Sindh Local Government (9th amendment) Bill, 2003.
2) The Removal from Service (special powers) (amendment Sindh Bill, 2005).
3) The Pan Institute of Management Bill, 2005.
4) The Sindh Cotton Control (Amendment) Bill, 2005.
5) The Sindh Transfusion of Safe Blood (Amendment) Bill, 2005.
